Animal rights organisation SAFE is expressing deep frustration after the Petitions Select Committee dismissed its call to ban colony cages. The petition, signed by over 22,000 concerned New Zealanders, was presented to the House in June 2023, but the Committee has opted not to take further action.

SAFE maintains that colony cages breach the Animal Welfare Act, as they prevent hens from displaying normal behaviours essential to their health and welfare, including the ability to move freely, dustbathe, and forage for food.

"Colony cages are no better for hens than the battery cages that have been illegal for nearly two years," says SAFE Campaign Manager Emma Brodie. "Hens in colony cages are condemned to squalor, crammed into dark cages where they never feel the sun on their backs or the grass under their feet."

SAFE also emphasises the Committee’s consultation process was flawed. By consulting exclusively with industry bodies, the Committee failed to undertake a comprehensive and unbiased review of the issue.

"It’s outrageous that the Committee only sought feedback from the Ministry for Primary Industries and the Egg Producers Federation - both of whom have vested interests in maintaining the status quo. Not a single animal welfare expert was consulted," says Brodie.

SAFE says there is broad scientific consensus that cage environments - whether battery or colony - have detrimental impacts on the health and welfare of hens. Common issues include disease, brittle bones, feather loss, and foot disorders. Up to 80 hens can be confined in a colony cage, with each hen only given space around the size of an A4 sheet of paper to live out their lives.

"The conditions in colony cages force hens to compete for access to basic needs like food, water, and a tiny nesting area. It’s a stressful, inhumane environment that has no place in modern Aotearoa," says Brodie.

The Committee has deferred the issue to the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC), who will assess the ongoing use of colony cages in the next code of welfare review. SAFE is urging NAWAC to prioritize the review as a matter of urgency.

"NAWAC’s last substantive review of this code was in 2011. The code is now alarmingly out of touch with current welfare evidence, leaving more than 1.2 million hens trapped in cruel, outdated systems," says Brodie.

"Minister for Animal Welfare, Andrew Hoggard, must step in and ensure that this long-overdue review happens without further delay - hens cannot wait any longer."

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