16:58 22Feb2007 Australians squeeze into Human Battery Cages

   SYDNEY, Feb. 22 (Reuters Life!) - Fifteen Australians squeezed
themselves into three tiny metal cages on Thursday in Sydney to
highlight what they said was the inhuman practice of chicken battery
farming.
   Under a hot summer sun, Australian model Imogen Bailey crouched
inside a "Human Battery Cage" as hundreds of tourists viewing the luxury
ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 looked on curiously.
   The protesters called on Australian lawmakers and the poultry
industry to follow countries such as Switzerland and Sweden and end
battery farming.
   "People expect Australia to be leading the world in animal welfare.
There is no excuse for the way they are treated, there are always
alternatives," Bailey told Reuters.
   Animal liberation groups say the battery cage system confines
chickens in overcrowded areas, preventing them from stretching their
wings, which causes feather loss, broken bones and premature death.
   "Today's consumer deserves to know how their food is produced.
Eighty percent of the eggs that consumers eat come from hens in tiny
cages," said Shane Dalgleish, who created the Human Battery Cages.
   "It is not very nice being confined, I get fidgety after 15 minutes
in here," Dalgleish said from inside the cage.
   An online eBay auction is drawing bids from people wanting to spend
half an hour in a "Human Battery Cage" with Bailey on Saturday March 3
at Sydney's famous Bondi Beach.
 ((Reporting by Suheil Damouny, editing by Michael Perry and Megan
Goldin; michael.perry@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
michael.perry.reuters.com@reuters.net; +61-2-9373 1804)) Keywords:
AUSTRALIA CAGE/