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PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Poultry: Animal Welfare (19 November 2015)

Question Asked

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to raise the welfare standards of animals in battery cages.

Asked by:
Mr Toby Perkins (Labour)

Answer

All animals are protected by comprehensive animal welfare legislation, including the Animal Welfare Act 2006, which makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to any animal. The UK also has species specific legal requirements which protect the welfare of all farm animals in whatever system they are kept. Battery cages for laying hens were banned in 2012 as there was clear evidence that these cages were detrimental to laying hen welfare. A statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sport Shooting provides rearers of gamebirds with information on how to meet the welfare needs of their livestock as required by the Animal Welfare Act including in cage rearing systems.


Answered by:
George Eustice (Conservative)
25 November 2015

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