Today, the European Commission has launched a public consultation seeking the public’s views on how to modernise the EU’s animal welfare rules.

Speak up for a cage-free future

As part of Our Voices, we urge our supporters to take part in the public consultation by the 12 December and demand ambitious proposals. We want EU citizens to send a clear message to the European Commission that it must ban cages for all animals and improve the life of nearly 300 million sows, laying hens, rabbits, quail, geese and calves suffering in cages every year.

Currently, we are working to produce a guide to help supporters speak up for animals in the most effective way, and provide their feedback to the European Commission on why we need a comprehensive cage ban. These will be shared soon.

With a closing date of 12 December 2025, the consultation is a steppingstone to ensure the European Commission delivers the long-overdue proposals to ban cages for all species in 2026.

Unforgettable broken promises 

In 2019, more than 1.4 million people signed the End the Cage Age European Citizens’ Initiative in support of the ban and an overwhelming 89% of Europeans believe that animals should not be farmed in individual cages. Yet, despite a European Commission commitment in 2021 to implement it, it has failed to deliver.

Vinciane Patelou, our Head of EU, said:

Millions of animals remain voiceless, confined in cages across Europe. But right now, we have a rare and urgent opportunity to speak for them. The European Commission’s public consultation is our chance to turn compassion into action.

We call on our dedicated supporters to respond to the consultation and send a resounding message to the European Commission: we need to End the Cage Age.

Save a date: in the coming weeks we will share some top arguments to be used in the consultation to tell the Commission that we need a ban on cages by 2026. Please put a 45-minute hold in your diary for November to get involved.

If you are not signed up to receive our campaign actions, please join us.

Supporters urged to raise voices for animals