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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 6 Hansard (21 May) . . Page.. 1564 ..

MS HORODNY (continuing):

to exercise. If a cat was castrated or had its ears, teeth and nails clipped without anaesthetic, as pigs are in the intensive piggery industry, the owner would also be prosecuted. But in the intensive confinement systems that have thousands of animals, even if animals are suffering life-threatening illnesses, veterinary attention is not usually provided. Even where there is starvation, perhaps due to a foot being caught in the cage door and preventing the bird from reaching the food trough, or where infection is killing them slowly, prosecution is still unlikely.

In Mr Humphries's view, the welfare of these animals is simply unimportant. It is only business, jobs and the price of eggs that count. Mr Humphries, who is not here at the moment - - -

Mr Humphries: Here I am.

MS HORODNY: You are here. I hope that you are paying attention. Mr Humphries, the cost of battery-produced eggs, in the ACT particularly, is artificially low because it is subsidised by the lack of care for the hens which provide these eggs. We can probably all remember back some 15 years ago when the price of eggs went down substantially all around the country. The reason for this was the establishment of the very cruel battery system for egg production.

Farm animals are constantly being exploited and manipulated in the production of animal-based foods. Modern production practices dictate that the vast majority of eggs that are sold in major supermarkets, restaurants and cafes come from chickens that are raised in intensive confinement systems which do not even begin to address the birds' basic and behavioural needs. The happy barnyard hen that runs about freely laying eggs in straw-filled nests is now not the norm, with very few producers using free-range or more humane barn or aviary systems.

Battery hens spend their entire life - it is a short life of only some 12 to 24 months - in wire battery cages so small that the hens cannot even spread their wings and are forced to lay their eggs on the wire floor. The suffering begins from birth. As future egg layers, the female baby chicks are spared from death, naturally; but the male chicks, having no value in the egg industry, are gassed, suffocated and usually ground up and used for chickenfeed. To limit the damage from excessive pecking and cannibalism in the tiny cages, part of the hen's beak is removed on a hotplate. This has a proactive term, "de-beaking". The suffering and abuse are continuous. Each hen is expected to produce 230 to 280 eggs. Once the hen has become exhausted and can no longer produce - and that is usually between 12 and 24 months - she is sent for slaughter, being suitable only for things such as stock cubes and pet food. In Australia the battery cage egg system is by far the method of egg production most accepted by industry, with the demand for free-range or barn-laid eggs still outweighing supply.

What are the alternatives? There are several alternative systems in operation around Australia and around the world. One of them is the free-range system under which the hens are allowed to roam freely in paddocks. They have shelter, nesting sites and fresh food. This is by far the most humane method of egg production. It results in healthier birds and higher-quality eggs for humans, and generally fewer chemicals and antibiotics are required to combat disease in this system. The deep litter sheds, otherwise known as

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