Taking Stock of How Far We’ve Come

January 3, 2008


	©U.S.D.A.
	Chickens in battery cages lead miserable lives from start to finish.

As 2008 begins, it's an appropriate time to look back over the past year—and even the past three—to review how far we've come in the fight to end one of the worst factory farm abuses: the confinement of egg-laying hens in battery cages.

In 2005, when The HSUS launched its No Battery Eggs campaign, the words "battery cage" were largely unknown to the general public.

The term needed explanation, as few Americans knew of the extreme abuse egg-laying hens endure, crammed into tiny cages for their entire lives.

A New Era for Egg-Laying Hens

Today, the words stand by themselves. They have even taken on significant meaning—as a cause in colleges, corporate boardrooms, food-service companies, restaurant chains, and more.

Just since 2005, many colleges and universities, national grocery retailers such as Whole Foods Market, regional grocery chains, several major food service companies, and even tech companies such as Google and AOL have adopted cage-free egg policies.

Giants such as Burger King, Carl's Jr. and Hardees have begun switching from cage eggs to cage-free eggs. And Wolfgang Puck and Ben & Jerry's are ending their use of cage eggs.


©Compassion Over Killing
The trend away from battery cages brings new hope to laying hens.

As more and more institutions have joined the campaign, media attention has shone a bright spotlight on the atrocious conditions that caged hens endure.

As a result, countless Americans now consider battery cages notoriously cruel—and they're recognizing for the first time that egg-laying hens are worthy of our moral consideration.

Ripping out Cages

At the industry level, things are changing too.

Battery cage factory farms are ripping cages out of sheds as hundreds of companies and schools switch away from cage eggs.

As a result of the No Battery Eggs campaign, millions of hens are being spared a lifetime of misery inside a cage where they can barely move.

Most of these new cage-free hens will still live indoors permanently amongst thousands of other birds, but they will at least be able to walk, spread their wings, nest and perch—all important behaviors that are permanently denied to battery hens.

Cage-free doesn't mean cruelty-free, but it's a meaningful improvement.

Compass Points in the Right Direction

We even ended 2007 with a major announcement—that Compass Group, the world's largest food service provider, is ending its use of cage eggs in the U.S.

This will not only improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of animals; it confirms again that the writing is on the wall. Battery cages—like the other confinement abuses—have no future in agribusiness.

Over the past three years, the American conscience has been awakened to the cruelties of battery-cage confinement. This abuse is now simply out of step with the moral sentiments of the country.

Moving into the New Year

The efforts of animal advocates and a conscientious public are transforming the face of the egg industry and other aspects of American agribusiness.

It's never been a better time to take action to help reduce the suffering of egg-laying hens and other farm animals.

Please join us in this fight.

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Scientists and Experts on Battery Cages and Laying Hen Welfare

An HSUS Report: The Welfare of Animals in the Egg Industry