Mail Online

Carrie charity wants to ban hen cages

By Harriet Line and Helena Horton

A PETITION to ban cages for egg-laying hens has been launched by a campaign group backed by Carrie Johnson.

Battery cages were banned in 2012 but so-called ‘enriched cages’ are still used.

A petition launched by the Humane League UK and the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation demands cages be phased out by no later than 2026.

The Prime Minister’s wife is a patron of the foundation. It follows the presentation of ‘Beatrice’s Bill’ – named after a rescue chicken – by Tory MP Henry Smith, which would ban keeping hens in cages.

Mr Smith told the Commons on Wednesday: ‘Beatrice was just a few days old when she was put into a cage. She lost most of her feathers, became underweight, and her bones grew brittle.’ Beatrice was rescued, but Mr Smith said ‘millions of hens around the world’ remain in such cages which cause ‘extreme suffering’.

Lorraine Platt, co-founder of the foundation, said: ‘It is our hope that in banning cages we can help millions of hens like Beatrice avoid spending their lives in confined, cramped spaces.’

Mr Smith’s Bill is set to be debated again next month but is unlikely to become law without support from the Government.

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