Published 02/10/2020

Today marks one of the most significant days for farmed animals that the world has ever seen.

On World Day for Farmed Animals (2 October, 2020), the European Commission received the End The Cage Age European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI). This has been signed by 1.4 million people across Europe, and calls on the EU to put an end to the use of cages in animal farming.

A win for farmed animals across Europe

The End the Cage Age ECI launched on 11 September, 2018 and closed exactly a year later, having gained over 1.6 million signatures. Following the required signature validation period, the ECI easily exceeded the required threshold of 1 million signatures, with a total of 1,397,113 validated signatures across Europe. It also outstripped the minimum number of signatures threshold in 18 EU member states, out of the seven required. This makes the End the Cage Age ECI the:

• 6^th ECI to succeed among 75 registered initiatives in the last eight years,
• 3^rd with the highest signature count,
• 1^st successful ECI on farmed animal welfare.

“Today’s hand-in of the End the Cage Age ECI is the culmination of a great effort by 1.4 million European citizens who came together to call on the EU to end the cruelty of confining farmed animals in cages” says Olga Kikou, our Head of EU.

“The massive public backing for the Initiative confirms the overwhelming level of interest EU citizens have in animal welfare. Now, the EU Commission must listen and come forward with substantive legislative proposals to phase out the use of cages in EU animal farming.”

We stand together

Making history for farmed animals has been a collaborative effort, where Compassion joined forces with 170 environmental, consumer rights and animal protection NGOs from across Europe, and rallied from every corner of the European continent.

Today’s success could not have been achieved without the support of 1.4 million people across Europe who stood up for farmed animals and demanded change. We would like to thank you for your support, dedication and compassion.

Sean Gifford, our Global Director of Campaigns says: “Today, we have crossed a finish line in the biggest political push in farmed animal welfare history. We are phenomenally proud of this collaborative victory. We stand together with 1.4 million citizens and we will not stop until the EU Commission frees all farmed animals kept behind bars. A life in a cage is no life at all.”