Three animal welfare groups in Indonesia, namely: Animals Don’t Speak Human (ADSH), Act for Farmed Animals (AFFA), and Animal Friends Jogja (AFJ), have made a high-profile symbolic appeal to the International Radisson Hotel Group via the Radisson Blu Uluwatu, Bali, on behalf of global egg-producing poultry.
The three groups presented the Bali hotel operated by Radisson with a chicken pen as a symbolic, gentle reminder to the global Radisson Hotel Group to sell eggs to its guests only from free-range hens in the future.
The animal welfare activists are calling on the Radisson Group to announce a clear, transparent, and definitive transition program to be shared with the public, which will see only cage-free eggs served in its food and beverage outlets.
The three groups have reportedly been lobbying the Radission Group for several years to deal only in eggs laid by free-range (i.e., cage-free) hens.
The symbolic chicken pen was ceremoniously handed to Ibu Ayu, the Guest Service Agent of the Radisson Blu Resort Uluwatu.
Radisson has reportedly pledged that its entire hotel chain would abandon the use of “battery cage eggs” in the coming year.
“We hope this hotel chain will demonstrate concrete plans for the welfare of animals and their own integrity, as progress continues to stall,” said Elly Mangunsong, Director of AFJ’s Farmed Animal Welfare Advocacy Program.
Activists allege that the use of battery cages results in laying hens being confined in spaces no more than the size of an A4 sheet of paper. This prevents the hens from engaging in natural behaviors such as nesting, dust bathing, foraging, roosting, or even flapping their wings. Conversion to a cage-free system is argued by the activists to be more ethical and is targeted to become the new standard for global hospitality supply chains.
“With its large scale of business, Radisson has a responsibility to demonstrate a clear and measurable transition plan immediately. Any delay means thousands of hens will continue to suffer,” stated Fiolita Berandhini Saichu, Director and Founder of ADSH.
If the cage-free commitment is finally implemented, the impact will be significant for the welfare of hundreds of thousands of hens in Radisson’s supply chain. Therefore, the coalition emphasizes the importance of transparency so the public knows the progress being made.
The public can help push for change and hen welfare through an online petition .
Information about the global cage-free movement can be accessed through the official Open Wing Alliance website.
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