News Date: Monday 18th October 2004
Battery Farm Investigation Exposes Suffering As RSPCA Hands Petition to DEFRA
Tim Loughton MP joined RSPCA?s campaign to expose inexcusable cruelty to battery hens earlier last week in a photo call held at Parliament.� Along with celebs such as Joanna Lumley OBE, Jim Broadbent, Zoe Wannamaker and Tamzin Outhwaite, Tim added his name to the expansive petition which was presented to DEFRA? minister Ben Bradshaw MP calling for a ban on this unacceptable and outdated method of egg farming.
Following an RSPCA inspection earlier this month, shocking new video footage? has revealed the horrendous suffering of thousands of hens at a UK battery farm.
RSPCA inspectors present at the inspection described conditions at the farm as appalling. The birds were cramped together in unhygienic conditions and hundreds had to be put down.
'I have seen some dreadful battery farms in my career, but I have never witnessed anything so bad as the suffering the poor birds on this farm had to endure,' said John Wilkins, Inspector, Special Operations Unit, RSPCA. ?Over 1,000 hens had fallen into the muck pit below the laying floors and were emaciated. They were forced to eat maggots, egg shells and dead birds to survive.?
'The keeping of laying hens in battery cages has to stop,' said John Avizienius, Senior Scientific Officer, RSPCA. ?But because the UK government has failed to reach any decision about whether to ban battery cages, the egg industry is continuing to use old and dilapidated cages, where even the most basic standards of welfare are denied.'
The RSPCA presented the petition to Ben Bradshaw in Victoria Tower Gardens, Westminster on Monday 11 October. Over 50,000 members of the public signed the petition, which if printed on a standard till roll would completely encircle a full-size football pitch with extra yards to spare.
The RSPCA fears that the type of suffering shown in the footage could be occurring in any number of battery farms across the country. The Society is also concerned that industry regulations appear to be insufficient and would like to see much more in the way of random inspections until a full European ban is introduced in 2012.
Although the RSPCA supports this proposed European ban of conventional battery cages, the British government is still discussing whether to allow the use of so-called 'enriched' battery cages. The Society believes that enriched cages are merely glorified battery enclosures, in which hens are confined to a living space of 600cm', the size of an A4 piece of paper. These allow only a little more room than conventional battery systems but still do not meet the welfare needs of the hens sufficiently.
'This petition will serve as a timely reminder to the government that it can no longer ignore public opinion,' said Avizienius. ?The message is clear; no battery cages are acceptable as a method of farming. Currently around 21 million hens have a miserable existence with almost no space to stretch their wings, move around or behave in a normal way and that is not what the UK public want.?
The RSPCA would like to see an unconditional ban on all battery cages and for these systems to be replaced with free-range and barn systems, which allow birds to move around and express normal behaviours. The Society is also concerned that with the knowledge the European ban on conventional cages is just a few years away, some egg producers are not making the necessary investments in staff and facilities to the detriment of hen welfare.
A list of celebrities- including the Duchess of York, Eddie Izzard, and Helena Bonham Carter have put their names to the RSPCA petition demonstrating overwhelming public support for a ban.
'Consumers have a crucial role to play in persuading supermarkets and caterers not to sell eggs or egg-based foods from battery systems,' said Capital Radio presenter Becky Jago.'I would urge the public to vote with their shopping baskets by buying free-range, organic or Freedom Food products.'
ENDS
Notes to editors:
1.The footage has been released together with other footage from RSPCA inspections carried out within the last 12 months.
2.UK Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs.
3. The list also includes Joanna Lumley OBE, Jim Broadbent, Zoe Wannamaker, Tamzin Outhwaite, Andrew Sachs, Richard Wilson, Shauna Lowry, Mark Durden Smith, Bill Pertwee, Becky Jago, Simon Amstell, Adam Burton, Joe Cornish, Simon Russell Beale, Paul Kaye, Sam Kelly, Matthew Wright, Davina McCall, James Bolam, Olivia Williams, Sadie Frost, Jenny Seagrove, Chris Tarrant, Margherita Taylor and Zoe Ball.
4. In August, a MORI poll commissioned by the RSPCA found that 74 percent of the general public supported an immediate ban on battery cages. MORI polled a nationally representative quota sample of 1,987 adults aged 15+ face-to-face in 200 sampling points across Great Britain between 12-16 August 2004. Data have been weighted to reflect the national population profile. For information from MORI, please contact Andrew Norton or John Leaman at MORI (on 0207 347 3000, andrew.norton@mori.com ; john.leaman@mori.com )
5. As the battery farm in question is under investigation with a view to a prosecution, the RSPCA cannot disclose any further details at this stage.
Free stills and B-roll/video content on the appalling conditions of a battery hen farm will be available from 12.00 noon Sunday October 10. Please log onto www.thenewsmarket.com/rspca to preview and request video. You can receive broadcast-standard video digitally, by tape or on-demand satellite via the APTN Global Video Wire. Registration and video on the site is free to journalists and other news professionals. If you are using the service for the first time please be aware you will need to register ? this could add an extra few minutes before you are able to download footage.
