Over the last two years, dozens of North American restaurant chains and food companies have announced they will switch to using only eggs from hens not raised in cages.  Major companies, such as McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Starbuck’s, Taco Bell, General Mills and Nestle, have responded to customer concerns about the welfare of caged hens. 

But not everyone is going cage-free.  A&W Restaurants is refusing to switch to cage-free suppliers.  Instead, it is opting to get its eggs from operations using “enriched cages.” 

Enriched cage systems are only slightly bigger than conventional battery cages and don’t significantly improve hens’ welfare.  In 2010, eight major animal welfare agencies signed a joint statement condemning enriched cages, declaring: “It is clear that such modified cages fail to properly meet the hens' physical or behavioural needs. They provide an unacceptably restrictive amount of space per bird; severely restrict many important physical activities, including running, flying, and wing-flapping; and do not permit unrestrained perching and dustbathing. The severe restriction of the hens' ability to exercise is likely to lead to frustration, bone weakness and osteoporosis - clear indicators of poor welfare.”

The obvious problem, which the public and much of the food industry seem to recognize, is that a cage is still a cage.  But A&W doesn’t get it.

Please tell A&W to join with other major players in the food industry and go cage-free.