Cage-free policy implemented at 12th post-secondary institution

April 6, 2009- Animal protection groups are applauding a decision by Ontario's Brock University to adopt a cage-free egg purchasing policy.

The St. Catharines, Ont., school has become the 12th post-secondary institution in Canada to adopt the policy and says it is committed to serving 100 per cent cage-free eggs in all campus food facilities. As of September, the university will no longer serve eggs from hens confined in what they consider are cruel and inhumane battery cages.
"We applaud Brock and Sodexo for choosing to drop eggs from hens confined to cages,'' says Bruce Passmore, director of outreach for Humane Society International/Canada (HSI). "By choosing cage-free, the university is helping to end one of the worst forms of animal cruelty.'' (Sodexo is an international food and facilities management service serving the university.)

Kimberly Costello, a graduate of the university, initiated the cage-free egg campaign.

"I was inspired by the Vancouver Humane Society's Chicken OUT! program and the cage-free egg policies that other universities had implemented,'' she says. "I was eager for Brock to demonstrate its commitment to more humane food choices for students.''

Lynn Kavanagh of the Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals says, "We can't justify animal cruelty based on saving a few pennies here and there.''

"Brock's decision to purchase and serve only cage-free eggs on campus is an example of the kind of socially responsible policy that we all need to follow in order to improve the welfare of animals raised in food production.''

While cage-free does not mean cruelty-free, cage-free hens generally have a least 250 to 300 per cent more space per bird and are able to engage in more of their natural behaviours than are caged hens, according to the HIS.

Cage-free hens may not always be able to go outside, but they are able to walk, spread their wings and lay their eggs in nests- all behaviours permanently denied to hens confined to battery cages, it adds.

Janet Hueglin-Hartwick, public affairs director at Egg Farmers of Ontario, said in an interview that the industry is disappointed when animal activist groups imply that only farmers who produce free-range eggs care for their hens and that the others do not properly care.

"Whether a hen is kept in a cage or on the floor, what is most important is the care the farmer gives his or her hens,'' she says.

"There are advantages and disadvantages to all types of hen housing and a poultry scientist would tell you there are trade-offs between the different types of systems.''