The Green Party and SAFE have made making a submission super easy, and I suggest you all go and do it! NOW!
Basically, there is currently a code of welfare for layer hens where they are going to introduce the idea of Colony cages, which is just going to another way that we can torture the poor chickens before we take their eggs.
I’m actually going to stop writing now, because this whole affair makes me super angry (especially as a fairly restricted income person I cannot always afford the cage-free eggs and that makes me even more angry) so I will let the links speak for themselves. (scroll down past my submission to get to the links)
My Submission
The Animal Welfare (Layer Hens) Code of Welfare is a joke. Unless you legislate that chickens are no longer be able to be kept in cages, it will continue to happen. We have a significant amount of New Zealanders living in poverty, even if they felt incredibly horrible about it all, they will simply not have the funds to choose to buy cage-free eggs.
Furthermore, we know that the majority of eggs produced aren’t even sold as eggs, and are instead in products, so unless you can outlaw cage eggs, even if as a consumer you choose to pay more for the cage-free eggs, you will still be consuming a significant amount of cage eggs inadvertently in products that you purchase.
If the entire of Europe can outlaw cage eggs, I don’t see why New Zealand, only ONE country (and a small one at that) cannot do the same. Your government is promoting 100% Pure New Zealand to overseas markets including Europe… There was significant public outcry about cage eggs in Europe, I’m guessing it will make a European tourist sick to their stomach to know that they have to revert to eating the tortured-chicken eggs when they are on holiday here.
Thank you
Vivian Chandra 