“Freedom for Hens”: A March for the Ban on Caging Laying Hens Will Take Place in Riga

Participants of the march will call on the Saeima to promote a ban on keeping laying hens in cages and to prevent delays in the legislative process in parliament.

Gathering of participants will begin at 12:00 near the Riga Congress Centre in Kronvalda Park, and the march will conclude around 13:30 at the Saeima building, where politicians and representatives of non-governmental organizations will speak to the attendees.

The event is organized by the public organization "Dzīvnieku brīvība" in collaboration with other Latvian animal protection organizations. The organizers emphasize that the event will be "peaceful, family-friendly, and visually striking," while also drawing attention to one of the most discussed topics in animal protection — the confinement of millions of laying hens in cages.

The organizers remind that hens spend their entire lives in cages in extremely limited space, unable to move freely, stretch their wings, or engage in natural behaviors. Each bird in a cage has space roughly the size of an A4 sheet of paper.

Support for the initiative continues to grow. The online petition "Freedom for Hens" has already been signed by more than 32,000 people. Many large food industry enterprises have also voluntarily pledged to stop using and selling eggs from caged hens.

A ban on keeping hens in cages is already in effect in several European countries, including Austria, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Luxembourg, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic. In Estonia, a similar bill is currently under consideration by the parliament. In Latvia, however, approximately 2.5 million laying hens are still kept in cages — more than half of the total population.

Event program:

• 12:00 — gathering of participants in Kronvalda Park and distribution of posters;

• 12:20 — start of the march through the city center to the Saeima;

• 13:00 — speeches by supporters of the initiative at the parliament building and conclusion of the event.