Maryland: Take a Stand Against Cruel Confinement of Hens

MD S.B. 690—Bans Cruel Confinement of Laying Hens

ASPCA Position: Support

Sponsor: Senator Lewis Young

Your support is needed to advance a state bill that would free millions of egg-laying hens from extreme confinement and ensure that Maryland residents can easily access more humanely produced eggs. If passed, this bill would require eggs produced or sold in Maryland to come from hens raised in cage-free systems with enough room to spread their wings, explore and carry out natural behaviors like perching and nesting.

Learn More

Many egg-laying hens in industrial factory farms are confined in small, wire “battery cages” where they spend their days suffering. As many as 10 hens may be crowded together in one battery cage, leaving each bird with about as much space as a single sheet of paper.

In these systems, battery cages are stacked on top of each other in rows as far as the eye can see—sometimes as long as football fields! Birds languish every day in the waste falling from hens in the cages above them.

There’s a solution. The Maryland General Assembly has the power to ban inhumane battery cages, aligning Maryland with 14 other states that have already banned cruel farm animal confinement in some form.

If passed, S.B. 690 would require that all eggs produced and sold in Maryland to be from cage-free systems by 2025.

What You Can Do

Hens are sentient beings, and they need your voice today! Please use the form below to send a pre-drafted email to your state lawmakers, urging them to support S.B. 690. Ending the production and sale of eggs from laying hens subjected to lifelong cruelty is a critical step toward building a kinder, more humane food system.

Advocacy Alert

Your Message

Subject Support S.B. 690--MD’s Transition to Cage-Free Eggs

Dear Senator,

Message

As your constituent and a compassionate Maryland resident, I urge you to support S.B. 690 to ban the confinement of egg-laying hens and ensure that all eggs produced and sold in Maryland come from cage-free systems by 2025. This is a commonsense bill that will improve the lives of millions of egg-laying hens currently raised in Maryland and align the state’s practices with cage-free commitments across the country. To date, 14 other states have banned cruel confinement of farm animals in some form, and major companies like McDonald’s, Walmart and Costco have committed to using more humanely sourced, cage-free eggs by 2025.

I don’t want animals to suffer on farms and hope you will join me in support of S.B. 690 to eliminate cruel battery cage systems from Maryland. Thank you for your consideration of this important measure that would positively impact laying hens, farmers and Maryland residents.

Respectfully,

[First Name] [Last Name]
[Your Address]

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