Humane World for Animals Europe

Pigs, hens, turkeys, cows and sheep have much more in common with us than we realise. 🐷🐔🦃🐮🐑 They are curious, sociable, capable of forming deep bonds and experiencing complex emotions. Yet billions of them still suffer under terrible conditions on factory farms, where none of this is possible.

A major win for animals: Denmark is pulling the plug on mink farming! 🎉 Once the world’s largest mink fur producer, Denmark has decided not to seek an exemption to continue farming mink when the EU ban on keeping American mink takes effect in August 2027.

We urge the European Commission to listen to the more than 1.5 million citizens who signed the European Citizens’ Initiative for a Fur Free Europe and deliver an EU-wide ban on fur farming.

A major win for animals: Denmark is pulling the plug on mink farming! 🎉 Once the world’s largest mink fur producer, Denmark has decided not to seek an exemption to continue farming mink when the EU ban on keeping American mink takes effect in August 2027.

This means the country’s last seven mink farms will close, putting animal welfare ahead of the commercial interests of a dying industry. Science played a key role: the European Food Safety Authority has made it clear that meaningful welfare improvements are impossible in cage-based fur production.

🐔 Think about everything you do without even noticing: choosing who to sit near, finding a quiet corner when you need one, moving freely through your day. A hen needs exactly the same things.

Her days are shaped by natural behaviours, social interactions and choices: searching for food, finding a place to lay her eggs, dustbathing, interacting with other hens and exploring her surroundings. Cages restrict the space she needs to express all of these behaviours.

They can count, distinguish threats from the sky and the ground and teach their chicks what to eat. And they talk to them before they’ve even hatched. 🐔 The hen is one of the the world’s most numerous domesticated bird, yet her intelligence is often underestimated.

Scientific research has shown that hens have complex social lives, a rich vocal repertoire and remarkable cognitive abilities, like understanding that an object still exists once it’s out of sight, or giving up an immediate reward to hold out for a larger one.

The EU wants maximum economic pressure on Russia. So why is Russian sable fur still exempt from sanctions? Ahead of Thursday’s EU Parliament Plenary debate on lifting this exemption, @eualive.bsky.social has published an opinion piece by Dr @joswabe.bsky.social of Humane World for Animals Europe.

Sanctions exemptions are meant to protect goods that serve civilian or humanitarian needs. Russian sable fur serves neither. This loophole undermines the EU’s sanctions and disregards the millions of Europeans who supported the #FurFreeEurope European Citizens’ Initiative.

"Cluck cluck": it's the sound everyone knows her by. But that's not the whole story. In nature, a hen spends up to 50% of her day just searching for food. She builds a nest before laying an egg. She chooses who to be near and who to avoid.

Over a third of the EU’s laying hens are still kept in cages. 🐔 According to the IEEP report we commissioned, a third of the EU’s roughly 398 million laying hens were still kept in enriched cages in 2025.

💬 “A cage-free future for laying hens is within reach, but the European Commission’s political ambition must be matched by practical financial support to facilitate the transition.” – Dr @joswabe.bsky.social, Senior Director of Public Affairs, Humane World for Animals Europe.

Over a third of the EU’s laying hens are still kept in cages. 🐔 According to the IEEP report we commissioned, a third of the EU’s roughly 398 million laying hens were still kept in enriched cages in 2025.

As @eualive.bsky.social reports, the transition is achievable, but farmers need the right support to make it happen, from upfront investment in new housing and equipment to training on new management practices 🧑‍🌾

Over a third of the EU’s laying hens are still kept in cages. 🐔 According to the IEEP report we commissioned, a third of the EU’s roughly 398 million laying hens were still kept in enriched cages in 2025.

The coming months could be decisive for ending cages for laying hens in the EU 🐔

👉🏻 Public money, particularly the CAP, should prioritise “transformative” changes and be combined with private capital, using grants alongside loans and guarantees to leverage greater resources 💶

The coming months could be decisive for ending cages for laying hens in the EU 🐔

The latest @ieep.eu report, commissioned by us, examines how the future CAP can support the transition to cage-free systems with these key recommendations: 👉🏻 A long-term vision, with clear objectives and timelines, is critical 🎯

The coming months could be decisive for ending cages for laying hens in the EU 🐔

By the end of this year, the European Commission is expected to release its long-awaited revision proposal of the legislation for the welfare of laying hens and broiler chickens, responding to the European Citizens’ Initiative ‘End the Cage Age’.

🎉 Woolrich Europe is going fur-free! This means fewer animals will suffer for fashion and sends a powerful message to the industry: compassion is what consumers want. Thank you to everyone who spoke up, signed petitions and took action.

Five years ago, 1.4 million Europeans called on the EU to end the caged confinement of farmed animals. The European Commission committed to act. We're still waiting.

On 1 October, we joined the End the Cage Age coalition outside the @ec.europa.eu in Brussels to remind it of that promise. The first proposals, for hens in egg production and chickens raised for meat, are expected by the end of the year, with proposals for pigs expected to follow in 2027.

Congratulations to @birdlifeeurope.bsky.social and all NGO partners on this hard-fought win! Banning lead in gunshot won’t stop hunters killing birds, but it will spare millions of birds, especially in wetlands, from lead poisoning and protect public health.

1.4 million citizens asked. The European Commission promised. Five years later, millions of farmed animals are still waiting.

By the end of this year, the Commission is expected to present its first proposals: ending the use of cages for hens kept for egg production and improving the lives of chickens raised for meat. Proposals to improve pig welfare are expected to follow in 2027.

1.4 million citizens asked. The European Commission promised. Five years later, millions of farmed animals are still waiting.