A million voices, years of persistence, and a promise that may finally be kept

Imagine a world where you didn’t have to think about whether something on a supermarket shelf is okay or not. Where the only choices were good, healthy, ethical choices. Where someone had already vetted everything to make sure there was no big environmental downside. Where without reading the label, you could know that none of the choices came from animals kept in cages. Because cages didn’t exist anymore. 

Well, thankfully, we’ve just taken a step closer to that reality. The European Commission has just reaffirmed its commitment to banning cages for hens and mother pigs. 

It comes only months after the UK Government’s animal welfare strategy said it would bring an end to these self-same caging practices. 

Cage-free high streets

What’s more, new data shows that UK companies are leading the way in taking caged eggs off the shelves. Aldi UK, Lidl GB and Tesco have now achieved 100% cage-free status, joining Waitrose, M&S, Co-op and Sainsbury’s, who were already there. Leaving more shoppers with a multitude of choice, but with no nasty surprises. 

But the really exciting news is that these heartwarming changes were driven by you and I – as citizens. Together, we put these issues on the map. We made it clear that no animal should be confined to cages. That keeping hens in wire boxes so small they can’t flap their wings should be a thing of the past. That mother pigs being kept in crates so narrow they cannot turn around is just wrong. No excuse. Shouldn’t be happening. 

The big turning point was a year-long petition campaign. Back in the days when the UK was part of the EU. We all got behind the European Citizens’ Initiative – a legally prescribed mechanism that meant the EU Commission was obliged to give a meaningful response – to end the cage age. 

Tipping point

In just twelve months, more than a million of us signed that petition. Together, we reached the legal threshold where the Commission had to respond. And respond they did. In June 2021, committing to end all cages for animals farmed for food. Then political life got in the way. That promise looked set to be forgotten. To be just another pipedream lost along the way. 

But citizens didn’t give up. The call to end the cage age kept being raised at every turn. Making it clear that people want and expect animals to be treated decently. That respecting animals as living, breathing, sentient creatures – capable of feeling pain, suffering, and happiness if we let them – should be a foundation of our society.

It was citizens who, earlier this year, took the Commission to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg for not keeping their word on cages. The message was clear: promises made must be promises kept. 

Whilst we still await the outcome of this landmark public hearing, nevertheless, the point has been well and truly made. Citizens expect action, not just words. 

Big news

Which is why publication of the Commission’s new EU Livestock Strategy – setting out a pathway for a resilient and sustainable animal farming sector – is so welcome. 

“Animal welfare is at the heart of citizens’ concerns”, the Strategy declares, before setting out its intention to propose a revision of animal welfare rules, focusing on the phasing-out of cages for laying hens and mother pigs. That promise made five years ago looks now like it may well now be honoured, at least for chickens and pigs. 

“The sector must meet growing expectations on environmental sustainability and animal welfare,” the Commission says. Showing that the message is getting through. 

Change is coming

Business as usual then is not an option. Strengthening animal welfare, and minimising climate and environmental impacts are described by the Brussels Strategy as ‘future-proofing’ farming. 

Whether for the health of consumers, the countryside, or animals, harmful farming practices cannot continue. And of these, cages are the epitome. They lock us into an industrialised agriculture that undermines the future for us all. 

Now, we must get behind farmers in making the change, ensuring funding and investment are made available to support the shift to better systems. 

The encouraging thing is that this is about more than cages. It points towards a different vision of farming: one that works with nature rather than against it, rewards good husbandry, and recognises that animal welfare, environmental sustainability and farm resilience are not competing goals but part of the same solution.

All of which underscores that big change doesn’t happen overnight. Particularly if what you’re trying to change is happening out of plain sight. Behind closed doors. Out of sight, out of mind. Locked in by big money vested interests. Enabled by years of government encouragement and funding. 

People power

Perhaps the most important lesson is that democracy still works. Not always quickly and not always neatly, but it works. When enough people come together around a shared concern, even decisions made in distant institutions can begin to shift, however slowly, in the right direction.

Turning things around can take a generation. It requires a marathon approach, not a sprint. Crystal-clear vision. Clear-headed determination. Commitment to never giving up, no matter what. 

That’s exactly what it’s taken to get to a point where, at least in the UK and Europe, we can see an end to the cage age. One day, cages may come to seem like a relic of a less enlightened past – and future generations may wonder why we tolerated them for so long.

Note: This is a version of an article first published in The Scotsman on Friday 17^th July.

Main Image – Credit: CIWF