Hyderabad: Poultry fair bats for cage free' rearing

Hyderabad: South Asia’s biggest international poultry exhibition will begin on Wednesday. What is unique, is that the venue which is at Hitex Kaman, a billboard encouraging poultry farmers to go ‘cage-free’ has been put up. Statistics released by the Humane Social International, reveal that over 220 million egg laying hens suffer in battery cages across India, which is the third largest producer of eggs.

These cages provide each hen a space of only 67 sq inches. Animal loves say that the natural behavior, such as nesting, perching and dust bathing important for hens are compromised inside battery cages. 

The Animal Welfare Board of India had stated that battery cages violates the provisions of Section 11(1)(e) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and has issued an advisory to all state governments, stating that battery cages should not be used and the existing ones, should be phased out. 

A report recently released by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), recommended replacing battery-cage systems with cage-free housing.

N.G. Jayasimha, managing director of HSI/India, said, “The writing on the wall is clear that battery cages are on the way out. Any new investment should be towards modern infrastructure of cage – free systems and nothing else. We firmly believe that Poultry India Exhibition is the right platform to help discuss and build a dialogue around moving away from battery cages and towards cage – free movement…”