Spending an entire existence in cages barely larger than one's own body is a horrifying experience. This is demonstrated by the footage that Animal Equality and other associations for the protection of farmed animals have gathered over the years inside farms housing pigs, hens, quails and rabbits, where these individuals reach such levels of stress and distress that they become dangerous to themselves and to their fellow inmates.

The use of cages in Europe

In Italy alone, it is estimated that more than forty million animals are still forced to endure this suffering. These include almost all sows, rabbits and quails, as well as forty per cent of farmed laying hens. And this is despite the European Commission having declared that it would take on board the demands of the End the cage age campaign, the European Citizens' Initiative to put an end to the use of cages in livestock farming. The European Commission publicly committed to presenting, by 2023, a legislative proposal to phase out cages, with the aim of reaching a total ban on their use in Europe by 2027.

In the European Union, more than 300 million animals live confined in cages: hens, sows, calves, rabbits, quails and ducks cannot move or turn around, spread their wings, or adequately care for their young.

At odds with their most basic needs, cages often end up causing injury and deformity to animals' limbs, as is the case with laying hens, for example. These delicate animals injure their wings and feet on the metal grilles that surround them. In other cases, newborn piglets fall victim to the structures in which their mothers are confined and forced to nurse them through the bars.

This is a tragic, unjust and outdated condition that must be made to stop causing suffering once and for all, in Italy too. So far, only Emilia-Romagna and Campania have chosen to take a step forward in our country, with certain regional resolutions aimed at phasing out this farming system.

While the European Union continues its commitment in the same direction, the Italian government is called upon to set an example in Europe against the reckless exploitation of animals farmed in the food industry. This is why, as Animal Equality, together with the Italian coalition End the cage age, we are calling on the Italian government to take a stand against cages in Europe by supporting this demand in all appropriate forums, starting with that of the Council of the European Union.

Italy too must play its part

The extraordinary mobilisation of millions of European citizens and the tireless work we have carried out as a coalition has made it possible to secure a historic commitment from the European Commission on animal rights, but it is essential that this commitment also be supported and shared by Italian politics.

In the knowledge that change is not only necessary but also achievable, the Centro ricerche produzioni animali has presented a report demonstrating the concrete possibility of phasing out the use of cages in livestock farming. In the meantime, many companies in the large-scale retail sector have already chosen to play their part for farmed animals by committing to no longer sourcing eggs from hens kept in cages.

The attention of citizens, businesses and European institutions demonstrates that the path towards phasing out cages is an increasingly urgent and imminent reality. Eliminating cages means bringing about a just transition for all animals, freeing them from a life of cruelty and confinement. A better world for farmed animals is therefore possible, and the Italian government cannot afford to miss the opportunity to take part in this change.