Diatribe
Currently, nearly 90% of all eggs sold in New Zealand come from factory farms. On these farms, hens are confined to battery cages – small wire enclosures into which they are crammed with three to six others. Few of us can imagine the extent of the physical and psychological torment these birds experience while confined like this. With less than an A4 sheet of paper per bird, the hens cannot stretch their wings or legs, bathe, forage, or build meaningful social relationships. In order to stop them pecking one another in response to the overcrowded cage, they have their beaks sliced off. Debeaking is a painful process that cuts through bone, cartilage and soft tissue and is usually performed without anaesthesia.
Although the draft code proposes a ban on battery cages, it allows the use of similarly cruel colony cages, which are described by some welfare experts as providing the birds with only an extra “credit card” of space each. In these tiny cages, which are condemned by both the RSPCA and SAFE, normal behaviour will remain impossible.
The proposed code runs against the global movement away from cages. The entire European Union began phasing out battery cages back in 1999 and Germany and Austria have subsequently banned colony cages. Several U.S. states have followed suit. For instance, in addition to banning the use of battery and colony cages in 2008, last July California’s then governor Arnold Schwarzenegger outlawed the sale of any caged eggs in his state, prohibiting imports from countries such as New Zealand that maintain poor welfare standards.
Should these reforms really come as a surprise? Research conducted by Dr. Chris Evans, a professor at Macquarie University in Sydney, found that chickens live in stable social groups, have complex communication patterns, and are good problem solvers. His research concluded that many of their mental capacities go beyond those of small children. Evans’ research is vindicated by a study that emerged just last week from scientists at the University of Bristol which concluded that, like humans, chickens can feel empathy – they have the capacity to “feel another’s pain”. That’s right, you have more in common with your butter chicken than you thought.
If, like Pamela, the Dalai Lama and Banks, you think New Zealand’s three million battery hens deserve better, go to www.nocages.org.nz and make a submission in support of a ban on cages before the consultation period closes on April 29. It only takes a minute to complete and unless people act, our country’s hens will continue to suffer.