Israel group launches anti battery cage campaign

Anonymous for Animal Rights (AFAR), a leading animal rights group in Israel, has launched a campaign opposing the use of battery cages, according to the Jerusalem Post.

 

The government has pledged ILS300 million (US$75.4 million) to construct new battery cages, said Uri Lorber, a leading activist in the campaign.

 

He said the Agriculture Ministry decided to reconstruct the entire egg industry three years ago, meaning most of the existing hen houses were out of use, and they have now decided to build new ones with no regulation of animal welfare.

 

The campaign aims to educate the public about the egg industry, with the campaign's website showing a 3D simulation of the life of a layer hen and allows the user to move throughout the cage.

 

However, the Agriculture Ministry told the Jerusalem Post that Israel raises chickens in the same ways as other developed countries do, and the purpose of the planned reform is to increase the efficiency of production and marketing in the industry, improvement public health and safety as well as enhance the welfare of the animals.

 

The ministry also claimed that the majority of Western countries use battery cages and will continue to do so in the future, and that the EU does not forbid the use of battery cages.

 

AFAR said those are lies, as the EU has passed a law that will illegalise battery cages by 2012 and the use of the cages are opposed in many countries worldwide.

 

The ministry also promised to consider the quality of the environment and the demands of the veterinary facilities and the Health Ministry to reduce disease outbreaks, including bird flu and salmonella.

 

Lorber, however, said they have sat down and talked with the Agriculture Ministry, which so far have been unwilling to talk about non-cage systems or even how to improve the cage system in minimal ways.

 

Lorber said AFAR is considering appealing to the courts and that will probably happen shortly.

 

The ministry will begin building new cages this month, and plan to finish the project in 2013. Most eggs in Israel are produced from caged hens.