End the Cage Age for all farmed animals

Every year across the UK, millions of farmed animals are kept in cages, unable to express their natural behaviours and experiencing huge suffering. These inhumane systems cannot be the future of British farming. The UK Government must legislate to ‘End the Cage Age’ for all farmed animals.

The European Commission plans to ban cages for all farmed animals, potentially by 2027, and will also look to prohibit the import of food from caged systems. This would result in the UK lagging behind the EU and may add bureaucracy to trade with the UK’s largest export market - possibly damaging the whole British farming sector. The UK Government must work to secure by 2027, across the UK, a ban on the use of: -barren, enriched and ‘combi’ cages -farrowing crates for sows -individual calf pens

The Government shares the public’s high regard for animal welfare. We are delivering a series of ambitious reforms, as outlined in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare which was published in May this year: Action Plan for Animal Welfare - (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/action-plan-for-animal-welfare). One of the ways we wish to improve the welfare of farm animals is strengthening protections against animal confinement. We are actively exploring options for UK food system and this includes phasing out the use of cages.

We have a strong track record for raising the bar when it comes to farm animal welfare standards, such as banning battery cages for laying hens and close confinement stalls for pigs. The UK banned sow stalls in 1999, whereas it was not until 2013 that a partial ban on sow stalls was introduced across the rest of the EU. Whatever the system of production, the most important factor in determining animal welfare is good stockmanship and the correct application of husbandry standards. This reflects the advice of our expert body, the Animal Welfare Committee (AWC).

Since the 2012 EU ban on the use of conventional (“battery”) cages for laying hens (in establishments with 350 or more laying hens), 55% of UK egg production is now free range, more than any country in the EU, with the rest in ‘enriched’ colony cages (40%), barn (2%), or organic (3%) systems. We recognise the ‘enriched’ colony cage system restricts a bird’s ability to exhibit normal behaviours, which is why we are examining all options for cage reform.