Section 2

Battery Cages

The battery cage system is a type of housing that’s used in commercial production of eggs.  It involves confining hens in small wire cages, with several cages stacked on top of each other in long rows. Many of these chickens live among the dead bodies surrounding them. While the system has been in use for decades and is still widely used in many countries, it has become increasingly controversial due to ethical concerns and animal welfare issues (13).

  Battery cages cause extreme psychological stress for chickens, inhumane conditions, and forces them to defecate on each other, which causes viruses and sickness(14). This exploitation also causes physical abnormalities like osteoporosis and bone fractures (15). About 60% of chickens in the United States are currently not cage free (13). This causes millions of chickens to spend the entirety of their life under oppression, animal abuse, and extreme neglect.

     Though confinement and cage ban policies covered less than 5 percent of U.S. layers and egg operations before 2022, upon full implementation in 2026 they will cover at least 16 percent of operations (16). This very statistic shows the incompetence of United States welfare standards and the complicity in this exploitation. With the passing of Section 2, battery cages and all cages similar are to be removed permanently.

Section 2 Legislation 

2.1 The use of battery cages for the confinement of chickens, turkeys, pigeons, or any other bird or small animal on factory farms shall be prohibited in all 50 states. This ban includes the use of enriched cages or any other confinement system that functions in a manner similar to traditional battery cages. 

2.2 All battery cages and any other similar caged system shall be removed within 1 year of the passing of this bill.

3.2 CAFOs or any animal facility found to be utilizing battery cages or any comparable caging system for the permanent confinement of small livestock animals shall be subject to both monetary fines and criminal penalties, including imprisonment.