Jacinda Ardern Has A Mandate To End The Caging Of Hens – SAFE
Animal rights organisation SAFE has big expectations around colony cages for the next Labour government.
SAFE CEO Debra Ashton said with a majority of the seats in Parliament, Labour can make quick progress on animal welfare.
“Labour can really get things done now, like fulfilling some broken promises on animal welfare. They should start with banning colony cages.”
The Labour party had promised to end the caging of hens in 2014 and 2017, yet hens are still confined to colony cages. At SAFE’s Political Panel for Animals in July, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor had said he wouldn’t be investing in colony cages, and no other smart person should be either.
“A 2020 Colmar Brunton Poll showed 76% of people oppose the use of colony cages. Jacinda Ardern has a clear mandate to phase out the caging of hens.”
“This is an issue that Kiwis care about, and with a majority of a house of representatives, one that Labour can quickly act on.”
And likewise caged pork production.
And the importation of food products from countries which do not have our standards. Not mentioning any names of course.
Oh, and the clear food standard and country of origin on all our food products.
Less than a year ago, on the edge of Auckland:
Dec 2019, Nearly 200,000 chickens die after power failure at poultry farm They suffocated when the pump stopped working, that pumped the air through. Those were TEGEL chickens.
In July 2018, also at a Tegel farm, dead, dying and deformed chickens were found at Helensville: Shocking Conditions at Tegel Farm
“We saw chickens that looked like they’d been cannibalised, with large open wounds we saw chickens on their backs that were unable to right themselves … and we found lots of chickens that had clearly been dead for a number of days.”
However those conditions were described as “shockingly normal”.
In November last year a virus was found in two Otago chicken farms: Poultry virus shuts down Otago farms, Tegel losing millions
In December 2018, 50,000 chickens burned to death in West Auckland: Fire at West Auckland Poultry Farm
“Henderson senior fire station officer Jason Orchard said 50,000 chickens had died in the blaze.”
That farm too “was a contract chicken supplier for poultry giant Tegel.”
Top link repair:
Nearly 200,000 chickens die after power failure