Campaign targets ‘factory farming practices’ of hens
Animal liberal group Animals Australia has launched a new advertising campaign targeting what it calls the ‘factory farming’ practices of over 11 million battery hens and 200,000 sows.
The radio commercial is a play on the children’s song “Old MacDonald had a farm….”. According to the group, it highlights that for most breeding pigs and laying hens in Australia the lives they endure are “a far cry from the happy images evoked by the song.”
Glenys Oogjes, Executive Director of Animals Australia: “Factory farming is inherently cruel. There is no excuse for confining animals so that they are barely able to move… consumers are never going to accept methods of farming that deny animals all quality of life.”
Australian retailers are acknowledging that growing awareness of factory farming is increasingly leading to consumer interest in making more humane choices, says Animals Australia. Woolworths’ 2009 Corporate Social Responsibility Report reveals a 33.6% increase in the sales of free-range chicken and a 32% increase in the sales of free-range eggs during 2009.
“It is astonishing that industry representative bodies Australian Pork Limited and the Australian Egg Corporation refuse to acknowledge the ‘writing on the wall’ and continue to defend pregnant sow crates and battery cages, when they should be actively advocating to their producers that change is needed and assuring consumers that their industries are committed to getting rid of cruel practices,” says Oogjes.
“During 2010 Animals Australia will dramatically increase its campaigns against factory farming. Every time we highlight the cruelty of factory farming financial support floods in to keep our campaigns on air,” concluded Oogjes.
Source: Animals Australia
