NO BATTERY CAGES
An estimated 98 per cent of Canada’s 26 million egg-laying hens are kept in small, cramped “battery” cages where they are unable to perform natural behaviours such as nesting, perching, dust-bathing, stretching a wing or walking around – activities that are important to them. Each bird has less space than a sheet of notebook paper. Hens are forced to stand on sloping wire floors, and they suffer feather loss and skin damage due to constant rubbing against the cage and cage-mates.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT BATTERY CAGES
Download our fact sheet on battery cages. You can also download the french version of our fact sheet.
Click here to read what experts have to say about the cruelty of battery cages.
To read about Controlled Atmosphere Killing, click here for PETA’s report.
Canadians for the Ethical Treatment of Food Animals
Following links are to YouTube; press your Back button when finished to return to this page:
Watch the video of Violations at Granny's Poultry Cooperative in Manitoba
Watch the video of Summary of Violations at Lilydale Poultry Slaughterhouse in Abbotsford, BC
Inside Clark Egg Farms Ltd.
Covert video footage taken inside a battery cage operation.
The Truth About Canada's Egg Industry
Shocking video footage of the inside of a standard battery cage operation (summer 2005).
CAMPAIGNS
Cage-free Campus Campaign
CCFA is encouraging student groups across Canada to urge their campus dining facilities to choose free-run, free-range or certified organic eggs. More than 100 universities and colleges in the U.S. have eliminated or reduced their use of battery eggs. Some universities and colleges in Canada have also recently adopted cage-free policies. We want to increase the number!
The process is not onerous. In some instances, a letter from a campus group to the campus food service was enough to bring about a change to cage-free eggs.
If you’re a student interested in launching a campaign on your campus, click here for the Cage-free Campus Campaign starter kit.
Cage-free 100
CCFA is asking restaurants across Canada to choose free-run, free-range or certified organic eggs instead of battery eggs. Our goal is to convince 100 restaurants across Canada to use only cage-free eggs. Ambitious, we know. That’s why we need your help!
If you’re interested in helping out by approaching restaurants in your neighbourhood, click here for the Cage-free 100 action kit.
PLEASE EMAIL US IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT GETTING STARTED WITH A CAMPAIGN.
Loblaw labelling campaign
Speak out on behalf of chickens. Download our postcard and mail it to Mr. Galen Weston, President of Loblaw Companies Ltd. You can also download the french version of our postcard.
McDonald's campaign
Download our postcard to ask McDonald's to stop using eggs from caged hens.
ALTERNATIVES TO BATTERY CAGES
There are viable alternatives to battery cages, where free run hens are kept in open barns and can move around and lay their eggs in nest boxes. Certified organic eggs come from hens with access to the outdoors at least part of the time.
Click here to download our information about labelling and alternative egg production systems.
OTHER ORGANIZATIONS WORKING TO END BATTERY CAGES
Vancouver Humane Society’s Chicken Out! Project
As part of the Chicken Out! project, the Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) has launched a petition asking the Canadian Government to label all eggs from battery caged hens as "eggs from caged hens". This type of labelling would allow consumers to make educated choices, and it would be consistent with current European Union legislation.
Go to www.chickenout.ca (under 'Project information') to download a copy of the petition, or email info@chickenout.ca to have a copy sent directly to you.
Humane Society of United States