Slovenia Against Cages, 2024
Slovenia Against Cages is a campaign which advocates against the keeping of laying hens and pigs in cages, which both are standard practices in Slovenia. The campaign contains a petition, which asks the government to ban cages at the legislative level.
The video Stories from the cages - The gestation crates documents the miserable life of Slovenian sows confined in cages in individual stalls. They are moved to the stalls immediately after their piglets are taken away, and there they will be artificially inseminated again and spend 4 weeks in a cage.
The video Stories from the cages - The farrowing area documents the suffering of Slovenian pigs confined in farrowing crates. The farrowing area is part of the barn where sows are housed 3-5 days before they are due to farrow (i.e. give birth) and where they stay for 28 days after giving birth.
Hundreds of thousands of laying hens in Slovenia still live in cages, in so-called battery cages, where they have a usable space of an A4 size piece of paper. Forced to live on such a limited wired surface, hens suffer both mentally and physically.
Mother pigs (sows) spend about one-third of their lives in extremely restrictive cages during farrowing and lactation, as well as artificial insemination and early gestation. Caged or confined in gestation crates, they can only take a step forward or backward. They cannot turn around.
Slovenia Against Cages campaign aims both – to educate the Slovenian public and pressure the government to abandon cage farming practices, based on the scientific consensus on the impact of cages on the welfare of pigs and hens. The campaign also hopes for a constructive dialogue with farmers, the official experts and the legislator.
Breeders choose to keep animals in cruel cages because it is the most economically viable. However, the state makes this type of farming possible through its laws and regulations. It is therefore the state, or rather the current government, which is also the only one that can prohibit such practices. It is all of us, the 'ordinary people', who must make this clear to the government. The petition and the Slovenia Against Cages campaign is an attempt to mobilize the public in this way.
Katarina Radaljac, campaign volunteer
Laying hens in the battery cages
- they live almost their entire lives on a wired surface
- they have no access to the litter and sunlight
- they cannot easily flap their wings
- they have no opportunity to explore their surroundings
- they direct their stress and frustration towards their peers, by pecking their feathers
- they are restrained from cleaning their feathers with dust baths as well as squatting at height
- they cannot move to a separate room for eggs’ hatching
Sows in the farrowing and gestation crates
- stay on the concrete floors
- cannot turn around or move freely
- cannot build nests for piglets and take care of them
- metal cages cause injuries when lying down and standing up
- sows are remarkably curious animals and entrapment does not allow them to express their natural behaviors
- out of frustration, they bite the metal frames of the cages
For more detailed information see reports: