By Pat Brewer

CANBERRA -- The ACT Greens have introduced legislation to phase out battery egg production and sales over the next three years through random inspection of premises where animals are kept, labelling the eggs produced by such methods and amending the Animal Welfare Act to ban battery cage systems after July 1, 1999.

The Greens' three-year proposal aims to give battery hen farms time to switch to more humane methods of hen-keeping such as barn and aviary systems and thus preserve jobs while improving the quality of life for the animals.

At present battery production is particularly cruel. Hens are kept in small wire cages stacked on top of one another. The space per cage per bird is less than half this page. Hens are de-beaked to stop pecking and cannibalism caused by such artificial living conditions.

One operation in the ACT, Parkwood Eggs, houses some 260,000 hens and supplies about 80% of the ACT egg market. Greens MLA Lucy Horodny says the legislation has been tailored to give Parkwood time to adapt its operations to the new law.

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