This Easter, seven organisations are taking advantage of the focus on eggs in Aotearoa to publish an Open Letter on reporting and labelling. We are calling for accurate reporting on hens in cages, and the use of consistent and clear labelling. This will allow consumers to make informed choices when purchasing eggs.

SPCA, World Animal Protection NZ, Veterinarians for Animal Welfare Aotearoa, the New Zealand Animal Law Association, Helping You Help Animals, Aotearoa Liberation League and Animals Aotearoa have published this Open Letter in response to months of misleading information being shared about eggs and the battery cage ban that came into force this year, a ban that has left colony cages still legal.

A colony cage is still a cage, just bigger, with more hens inside, with the deliberately misleading name "colony".

These organisations, while working in different ways to help animals, are united in agreement that, 
1. Colony cages do not meet the welfare needs of hens.
2. Labelling of eggs and reporting on how hens are kept in egg production systems must be accurate.

Marianne Macdonald, Executive Director of Animals Aotearoa explains that colony cages remain legal, but many people think all cages are now banned.

“The battery cage ban came about in response to New Zealanders’ concerns about the severe suffering of hens in cages. When colony cage eggs are on shelves labelled "colony laid" or "fresh colony eggs", these very same caring people are being duped into thinking they are buying cage-free eggs. This is welfare-washing and needs to be stopped,” says Ms Macdonald.

At Animals Aotearoa, we’ve observed that some representatives of the egg industry deliberately set out to mislead and confuse the public. This is illustrated by the Egg Producers Federation having a news item on their website saying, “As of 1 January 2023, it is no longer lawful to house hens in cages'', a statement that is entirely untrue when colony cages are still legal.

“In a wire cage, a hen is unable to dust bathe, build a nest and even struggles to fully spread her wings due to lack of space, all extremely important natural behaviours for these birds. Cages have been rejected by animal-loving Kiwis who will be shocked to learn that colony cages are still legal. Truth in marketing is fundamental for people to make informed decisions. For hens to be spared lives of misery, all cages need to be banned”

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