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Petition Tag - free range
1. Stop new FREE RANGE EGGS standards in AUSTRALIA 
Currently, the Australian Egg Corporation Limited (AECL) has an application pending before the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for the acquisition of a Certified TRADEMARK (CTM).
This CTM will be known as the Egg Standards Australia/Australasia. One of the proposed standards, which is of particular concern, is the 13 fold increase in stocking densities of free range eggs.
This means that they intend to increase the number of hens per hectare from a maximum of 1500 to a staggering 20,000 and still be allowed to label it as free range.
The AECL will be able to sport their stamp of approval on egg cartons from farms with these new stocking densities and with other minimum housing and management standards.
2. All animals Worldwide need to be on an Endangered Species list
All animals Worldwide need to be on an Endangered Species list. Only to be obtained as Wild-Caught, Free Range or animal rescue as specified by advertising on Animal Planet.
3. Battery hens, look us in the eye when choosing to buy
Caged for life without exercise while constantly drained of calcium to form egg shells, battery hens develop the severe osteoporosis of intensive confinement know as caged layer fatigue.
Calcium depleted, millions of hens become paralyzed and die of hunger and thirst inches from their food and water
4. Ask Wal-Mart to Carry Free-Range Eggs!
Walmart is a widely known company, with countless people going through its doors daily. While they sell free-range eggs online, they only carry the product in select stores.
Free-range eggs are a step towards eliminating the cruelty to egg-laying hens, eliminating the battery cages they are normally in. While a free-range remains frowned upon for being not much better than the battery cage lifestyle, we are requesting that Walmart sell these eggs in ALL stores, not just select ones and online, in hopes that people will take interest in the product and do some research on it.
It is our hopes that in this research, they learn about the cruelty in the egg industry and take steps towards adopting a more compassionate diet.
We also would like to encourage Walmart to carry vegetarian and vegan food options in the freezer section of ALL stores, not just a certain few. With the growing number of vegetarians and vegans out there, we would like this company to set a good example by providing them with more options.
5. Help bring about truth in labelling
Consumer awareness of the ethical, environmental and health considerations associated with factory farming production methods continues to grow, with consumers increasingly wanting to make more informed decisions on the animal-derived food products that they purchase.
Making such informed choices however is limited by the suite of confusing, poorly defined and unregulated labelling terms currently in use, including caged, cage-free, barn laid, free-range and bred free-range. This range of terms is not only confusing for consumers, but the absence of standardised definitions leaves them open to interpretation and misuse by producers. Consequently, terms such as free-range are used to refer to vastly different husbandry practices.
The Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council is due to start a comprehensive review of food labelling law and policy in 2009. Your help is needed to ensure that animal welfare-related labelling is subject to tighter controls to protect both consumers and genuine producers.
Truth in labelling of animal welfare-related production methods will, among other things:
§ Assist consumers to make suitably informed choices
§ Protect genuine free range and organic producers
§ Prevent the use of misleading and deceptive labelling and marketing practices
§ Allow the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to prosecute misleading and deceptive conduct relating to food labelling in this area.
To demonstrate the need for consistent national standards and definitions on animal products, HSI has developed a national online consumer survey, which can be viewed at: http://bit.ly/BwboA
Please take the time to answer this quick survey. We will be submitting the results along with the signatures to this petition to the Ministerial Council as part of the review process as a means of bringing about tighter controls on animal-welfare related labelling. We will be calling on the Ministerial Council to direct Food Standards Australia New Zealand to develop a nationally consistent labelling scheme that permits the use of only a limited number of legally defined terms on animal products.
Further information about this issue is available at http://www.hsi.org.au/
Thank you for your help
6. UOW Students Against Animal Cruelty - Free Range Petition
The vast majority of Australia’s egg laying hens today spend their short lives warehoused with hundreds of thousands of others. They are confined in cages, smaller than the size of an A4 piece of paper, in which they are unable to exercise the bulk of their natural behaviours such as preening, nesting, stretching their wings and even turning around.
There are more compassionate alternatives such as free range!
7. STOP KEEPING HENS IN BATTERY CAGES
I am trying to get more brands to keep their hens in free range conditions, rather then making them suffer in battery cages.
Please sign. Here is a picture of my free-range hen!