Launch of Europe-wide citizenS' initiative to end the use of cages

FOUR PAWS joins the fight to #EndTheCageAge for farm animals across Europe.

25.9.2018

The international animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS is joining forces with over 100 other animal welfare and environmental organisations throughout the EU to launch the #EndTheCageAgeEuropean Citizens’ Initiative(ECI). This Europe-wide initiative will run for one year, with the ambitious goal of ending the use of cages across the continent.

FOUR PAWS participated in the launch of the flagship event hosted by leading farm animal welfare charity 'Compassion in World Farming’ on September 25th at the European Parliament in Brussels, where an exhibition revealing the reality of life in a cage was shown to MEPs and influential decision makers.

FOUR PAWS will be helping with the collection of one million signatures from EU citizens calling on the European Commission to #EndTheCageAge.

If successful, the ECI will bring about a seismic shift in our food and farming system, with the potential to benefit hundreds of millions of farm animals a year in Europe by sparing them a life of suffering in a cage. This would be a monumental step on the path towards ending factory farming.

Pigs, hens, rabbits, ducks and quail are all kept in cages across the EU. Most cages are barren, cramped and deny the animals space to move freely. They are cruel and completely unnecessary.

"Animals deserve a life free from the cruelty of cages. At the very least, pigs should be able to turn around, hens given the freedom to fly and run and rabbits should have room to hop and jump – basic actions that they are all incapable of carrying out in cages. That’s why we are calling on the European Commission to end this inhumane treatment. By joining forces with so many other supportive organisations, we have the power to End the Cage Age."

Dr Martina Stephany, FOUR PAWS International, Director of Farm Animals and Nutrition 

“This is a unique opportunity for the people of Europe to stand up and show the world that they no longer accept caged farm animal suffering”, stressed Leopoldine Charbonneaux, spokesperson for the End the Cage Age ECI and chair of the citizens’ committee. “We want to see a whole continent taking a stand against cruel caged systems.”

To support the End the Cage Age ECI, please visit: https://ciwf-int.endthecageage.eu/en-INT/live

FOUR PAWS is the global animal welfare organisation for animals under direct human influence, which reveals suffering, rescues animals in need and protects them. Founded in 1988 in Vienna by Heli Dungler, the organisation advocates for a world where humans treat animals with respect, empathy and understanding. FOUR PAWS’ sustainable campaigns and projects focus on companion animals including stray dogs and cats, farm animals and wild animals – such as bears, big cats, orangutans and elephants – kept in inappropriate conditions as well as in disaster and conflict zones. With offices in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Kosovo, the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine, the UK, the USA and Vietnam as well as sanctuaries for rescued animals in twelve countries, FOUR PAWS provides rapid help and long-term solutions. www.four-paws.org 

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