http://www.abc.net.au/northqld/stories/s1986723.htm

Human Battery Cage fuses art with activism
Last Update: Wednesday, July 25, 2007. 9:15am AEST

By Winsome Denyer

Tourists and locals wandering down Flinders Mall on Tuesday might have been surprised to see six forlorn-faced adults sitting in one-metre-cubed cages.

No, it's not a new public punishment technique; the six volunteer activists were raising awareness of the plight of the humble hen.

The Human Battery Cage has been travelling around Australia for the past four months, and activist Shane Dalgleish says they're trying to demonstrate the sad life of a battery chook. "We wanted to find a way that we could show people what it might be like for hens but without being overly graphic about it. We want people to approach us and ask questions because there is a lot of confusion over the labelling of eggs in this country," he says.

Mr Dalgleish says a growing number of the population think the battery cage practice has already been banned because the industry made some changes in the year 2000. But the changes only increased the cage sizes from two thirds of a sheet of A4 paper to three-quarters of a sheet. "That's the space each hen has to spend its entire life in," Mr Dalgleish says. "That confusion is why we're out here and showing people that it is still happening and that we don't like it."

The activists have a little more than an A4 page to sit on though. Their cages are scaled proportionately to human size to about 1.2 cubic metres. "We can't stand up, so we're just crouched down inside looking miserable like hens do." They describe the cages as an "installation artwork", fusing art with activism.

Mr Dalgleish says the only way things are going to change is if the public make changes in their buying habits. "We just want people to think about this the next time they're buying eggs. They're looking at a carton, not of cheap eggs, they're looking at chickens locked in tiny little cages for their short lives," he says.

But Mr Dalgleish warns not to trust the wording on labels. "The term farm fresh conjures up a lot of images for a lot of people. They see in their mind chickens running around on a farm. We like to call it the meatrix - the matrix of the animal agriculture industry. They like to put up this façade that everything's happy on their little farm," he says. Even free range labelled eggs aren't necessarily free range. "It's a self-regulated term, there is very little definition in law to say who can and can't use that term. But if you buy certified free range or certified organic then those farms are inspected once a year and measure up to the standards," Mr Dalgleish explains.

Mr Dalgleish says Australia is lagging behind European standards for egg production. "The European Union is phasing battery cages out by 2012. Switzerland, Sweden, Austria and a number of Nordic countries have already banned this method of production," he says. "In Australia there are regulations but it's more of a code of practise and most places do adhere to them but there is still a lot of misinformation."

The Human Battery Cage has already visited capital cities and regional centres in all States of Australia, and continues the north Queensland leg of its tour this month.

The national tour is sponsored by Voiceless - the fund for animals, Animal Liberation NSW and the Vegetarian/Vegan Society of Queensland.