New Zealand’s biggest egg producer, Mainland Poultry, want to build a massive industrial chicken egg laying farm at 64 Old Road, Orini in the Waikato.
“If Mainland Poultry get their way, their mega factory farm will imprison 800,000 hens. Almost all of these hens will be kept in cruel colony cages,” says Direct Animal Action spokesperson Deirdre Sims.
“There’s been massive public outcry in New Zealand about factory farming and keeping animals in cages for cheap food production. Kiwi consumers really don’t like factory farming and it’s beyond time these practices were banned in our country.
“Just yesterday it was announced that Foodstuffs, owner of New World, PAK’nSAVE and Four Square are joining Countdown in going fully cage-egg free.
“Overseas, countries like Switzerland and Austria have already started to phase out colony cages and factory farming.
“New Zealand is meant to be a world leader in animal welfare but building a mega factory farm like this would actually set us behind more progressive nations and consumer trends in our own country.
“Waikato District Council are currently considering Mainland Poultry’s application. We started a petition to the Council and within two days it reached more than 1000 signatures. It now has over 2000 signatures and is still climbing.
“We’re strongly urging the Council to decline Mainland Poultry’s application to build this mega hen hellhole and we’ll fight hard to make this happen,” says Ms. Sims.
