End the Cage Age

Was ist End the Cage Age?

Die „End the Cage Age Initiative“ (ECI) ist eine Europäische Bürgerinitiative, die die Europäische Kommission dazu auffordert, die Verwendung von Käfigen in der „Nutz“tierhaltung EU-weit zu verbieten. Sie wird von über 170 Organisationen unterstützt und von 1,4 Millionen EU-Bürgern getragen, was sie zu einer der bedeutendsten Tierschutzkampagnen in Europa macht.

Den aktuellen Offenen Brief haben wir unterzeichnet.

Worum geht es?

Der offene Brief fordert die Europäische Kommission auf, Käfighaltung in der Landwirtschaft zu verbieten. Wir kritisieren, dass fast 300 Millionen Tiere jedes Jahr in Käfigen, Kastenständen oder Einzelboxen eingesperrt sind – ein System, das wissenschaftlich als tierschutzwidrig nachgewiesen ist und das natürliche Verhalten der Tiere verhindert.

Was wir fordern: Die sofortige Veröffentlichung von Gesetzesvorschlägen bis spätestens Dezember 2026, die folgende Tierarten von der Käfighaltung befreien:

• Geflügel (Legehennen, Junghennen, Wachteln, Enten, Gänse)
• Kaninchen
• Schweine (Kastenstände beim Abferkeln und Decken)
• Kälber (Einzelboxen)

Der Offene Brief von End the Cage Age

Dear
Commission President von der Leyen
Executive Vice-President Ribera
Executive Vice-President Séjourné
Commissioner Várhelyi
Commissioner Hansen

Collectively, across civil society, EU citizens, industry and key stakeholders we call on the
European Commission to – this year – propose legislation to prohibit the use of cages for farmed
animals for:

• laying hens, rabbits, pullets, broiler breeders, layer breeders, quail, ducks and geese;
• farrowing crates and sow stalls for pigs;
• individual pens for calves.

Such legislation was due to be published in 2023, and this severe delay is unacceptable for the
nearly 300 million animals confined in cages each year. It also affects farmers and food
businesses, who have invested in cage-free farming and supply chains, and are now facing an
unlevelled playing field due to lack of EU harmonization and the absence of import requirements.

The Commission’s recent public consultation found that 9 out of 10 respondents fully agree that
the current EU legislation regulating animal welfare at farm level does not ensure that farmed
animals can express normal behaviour.

This agreement is in line with a wealth of animal welfare science including EFSA’s position that
cage systems are fundamentally incompatible with good animal welfare.

The use of cages, crates and individual pens in farming systems severely restricts or prevents
these important natural behaviours and the confined conditions these animals endure on many farms are cruel and unnecessary.

In fact, in addition to the scientific evidence and citizen demand for a cage-free future, more than
30 leading European food companies4 have directly urged you, via species specific statements,
to end the use of cages in animal farming across Europe. This highlights that cage-free is already
a commercially viable farming system.

And the food sector is willing to move, with the Commission’s recent public consultation
highlighting that there is more businesses supporting a ban on cages than businesses opposing
a ban and this is shown across all species.

We, therefore, urge you to take immediate steps to publish legislative proposals no later than
December this year, in line with the repeated statements of the Commissioner for Health and
Animal Welfare that “proposals to ban cages will be presented in late 2026.”
Such proposals should be in line with the asks of the End the Cage Age ECI and the Commission’s
communications. This includes:

• a clear EU-wide legislative framework to phase out the use of cages in farming,
• adequate transition support, including through the Common Agricultural Policy and other relevant instruments,
• consistency between EU internal standards and requirements applied to imported
• products.

On behalf of all the sentient individuals confined in cages in the EU, we call for legislative
proposals – to be published before the end of this year – that will end this suffering at the
earliest opportunity.

Yours sincerely
Josef Pfabigan
CEO/Chair of the Board Four Paws

On behalf of:
170 non-governmental organisations that supported the EtCA ECI
1.4 million EU citizens