End the use of cages and crates for all farmed animals
108,277 people signed this petition to the UK Parliament after it opened on 24 January 2025; it closed on 24 July 2025. The Government responded on 17 February 2025. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 16 June 2025.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
End the use of cages and crates for all farmed animals
We think the UK Government must ban all cages for laying hens as soon as possible.
We think it should also ban the use of all cage and crates for all farmed animals including:
• farrowing crates for sows
• individual calf pens
• cages for other birds, including partridges, pheasants and quail
Every year in the UK, millions of farmed animals experience huge suffering confined in cages. From millions of laying hens unable to express their natural behaviours to mother pigs nursing their piglets confined in narrow crates, to calves, quail and game birds.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 17 February 2025; the petitions site lists the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as responsible. Its summary:
This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. The use of cages and crates is an issue we are now considering very carefully.
The opening 310 words of the 665-word response:
The Government is aware of the strong public feeling on keeping farm animals in cages and the recent campaigns urging the Government to publish consultations on phasing out the use of enriched ‘colony’ cages for laying hens and farrowing crates for pigs. The use of cages and other close confinement systems for farmed animals is an issue we are currently considering very carefully.
For laying hens, we are encouraged that the sector is moving away from the use of enriched ‘colony’ cages to free-range and barn production. The transition to cage free systems is being supported by this Government through grants for laying hen and pullet farmers in England with flocks of 1,000 birds or more, to refurbish or replace existing housing including those looking to make the transition from colony cages to high-welfare non-cage systems.
This transition has also been supported by the major supermarkets - who have pledged to stop selling shell eggs from hens kept in colony cages by the end of 2025 - with some retailers also extending their 2025 pledge to processed egg, such as powdered or liquid. This shift by retailers has accelerated the move away from colony cage systems. Eggs produced from hens in colony cage systems accounted for just over 44% of the total egg throughput in the UK in 2018, but by the end of 2024, this had reduced to 20%. Free-range eggs now account for 69% of the total egg throughput in the UK.
We already have a significant outdoor pig sector: 50% of the national sow breeding herd give birth freely on outdoor units, with no option for confinement. The statutory Welfare Code of Practice for Pigs states that the aim is for farrowing crates to no longer be necessary and for any new system to protect the welfare of the sow, as well as her piglets - (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pigs-on-farm-welfare).
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies. Measured against each constituency's electorate at the 2024 general election, the most came from South Devon, with 7.3 signatures per 1,000 electors (529 in all).
106,947 of the signatures were from the UK and 1,330 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures | Electorate, July 2024 | Per 1,000 electors |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Devon | 529 | 72,261 | 7.3 |
| Central Devon | 448 | 75,385 | 5.9 |
| St Ives | 396 | 69,978 | 5.7 |
| Brighton Pavilion | 418 | 74,786 | 5.6 |
| Arundel and South Downs | 412 | 77,969 | 5.3 |
| Stroud | 411 | 77,905 | 5.3 |
| West Dorset | 402 | 75,998 | 5.3 |
| Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe | 378 | 73,114 | 5.2 |
| Lewes | 395 | 76,166 | 5.2 |
| Ceredigion Preseli | 381 | 75,690 | 5.0 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| South East | 19,214 |
| South West | 14,672 |
| London | 11,457 |
| East of England | 11,030 |
| North West | 9,541 |
| Scotland | 7,934 |
| West Midlands | 7,633 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 7,219 |
| East Midlands | 6,854 |
| Wales | 5,639 |
| North East | 3,243 |
| Northern Ireland | 1,215 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 16 June 2025. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/706302.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
91b2caf2be638631… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.