VANCOUVER—The Vancouver Humane Society wants Canadians to make 2010 a better year for chickens by purchasing organic, free range, or free run eggs—or even abstaining from eggs altogether.
“The way we change these things is by the choices that we all make,” says VHS director Leanne McConnachie.
A recent poll commissioned by the society showed that 63 percent of Canadians indicated they would support a legislative ban on battery cages in their province, an increase from a similar poll in 2007.
Battery cages are small wire cages that hold an average of five birds per cage in buildings devoid of sunlight. In such a confined space, the birds can neither stand properly nor move freely, and are unable to engage in their natural behaviours of nesting, wing-flapping, scratching, and dust bathing.
In these crowded conditions, egg-laying itself can become a traumatic experience for the hens, which claw and peck at each other or at the cage in an effort to secure non-existent nesting space. In order to deal with this problem, battery hens are de-beaked using hot knives or lasers.
The survey also found that 72 percent of Canadians are willing to pay more for farm animal products that are certified humane, while 54 percent are willing to pay a higher price for cage-free eggs.
However, a full 81 percent believe that farmers take good care of their animals, and 62 percent think that animals are treated humanely in the process of producing food—a misperception that could slow or even prevent change, says McConnachie.
“People still believe that the majority of farming that occurs in Canada is still using the traditional style, that we are using traditional techniques—that factory farming is something that only happens in the U.S. and is used only a limited amount in Canada,” she says.
“My take is that they are saying ‘Yes, I am really opposed to [battery cages]’ and then in their head they are thinking, ‘Well, thankfully our farmers don’t do that.’”
In fact, McConnachie says battery cages are used in 90 percent of Canada’s egg production—down from 98 percent when the society started its Chicken Out campaign in 2002. The average Canadian chicken farm holds 17,000 birds, each laying about 300 eggs per year.
In recent years, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands have all banned the use of battery cages for egg-laying hens. The European Union plans to ban the cages in 2012, with California following suit in 2015.
But legislation changes have been “painfully slow” in Canada says McConnachie, so VHS is hoping to create a demand for more humanely produced eggs by encouraging people to ask for cage-free eggs when they shop.
To that end, the society has been working with egg producers, universities, and local governments as well as organizations across the country. VHS has on record 15 universities and 15 municipalities in British Columbia and some cities in Ontario committed to using cage-free eggs in their facilities.
Ten percent of Canadians polled and a full 21 percent of British Columbians already buy cage free eggs. VHS’s goal for B.C. is 50 percent by 2013. While the B.C. Egg Marketing Board has been open to discussion in changing from caged to cage-free, other provincial boards are “digging their heels in a little bit” says McConnachie.
There are several reasons VHS focuses on egg-laying hens as opposed to other farm animals, explains McConnachie: the numbers of birds affected—26 million per year in Canada; the length of time they suffer—12-18 months in a cage; an affordable alternative exists—free range eggs.
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