Brits say government isn’t doing enough on animal welfare issues

Many in the UK would be forgiven for thinking we have world leading animal welfare standards, as we approach 200 years of the first animal welfare law in the UK.

However, animal protection charity The Humane League are warning one intolerable practice still remains legal, long after other countries have banned it; the keeping of egg-laying hens in cramped cages.

To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the first ever animal welfare law The Humane League UK are calling on the government to follow in the footsteps of countries like Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the EU as a whole and ban cages for laying hens. Despite promising to look into the issue, the government has delivered no concrete change for hens.

The charity’s Beatrice Campaign, named after a hen rescued from a cage, highlights that there are still 14 million hens in cages in the UK today, accounting for 35% of national egg production, and that there will always remain millions in cages without a government ban.

Aston spoke to TV vet Marc Abraham and Amro Hussain, The Humane League UK’s senior public affairs lead.

Photo by Ben Moreland on Unsplash