EU law unfortunately still permits cages for pregnant and mother sows. There are over 12 million sows in the EU. Altogether, over 300 million hens, sows, rabbits, ducks, quail and calves are imprisoned in cages across the EU.

Since 2018, Compassion in World Farming has been leading a coalition of 170 organisations from across Europe to support the ‘End the Cage Age‘ European Citizens’ Initiative. Over the period of one year, the Initiative collected over 1.6 million signatures from all EU Member States, which is way above the minimum requirements. After verification by Member State authorities, the signatures will be submitted to the EU Commission, which will be legally obliged to decide whether to propose a new law to address the concerns of EU citizens.

For further information about sow stalls, farrowing crates and other systems for caging of farmed animals, please see our report on caged farming in the EU, available in Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish and Spanish.