Tribunearticle,whenfivebirdsareinthestandardtwelve-by-
twenty-inch cages,convertstojust 300 squarecentimeters.
Withonlyfourbirdsinsuchcages,eachbirdhas 375 square
centimeters.
AlthoughtheBritishgovernmenthastakennoactiononthe
recommendationtotaketheintitiativeinphasingoutcages,
change is possible. In 1981 Switzerland began a ten-year
phase-outof battery cages.By 1987 birdsin cageshad to
haveaminimumof 500 squarecentimeters;andonthefirst
dayof1992,traditionalcageswillbeoutlawedandalllaying
hens will have access to protected, soft-floored nesting
boxes.^39 IntheNetherlands,conventionalbatterycageswill
becomeillegalin1994,andhenswillhaveaminimumspace
allowanceof1,000squarecentimeters, aswellasaccessto
nesting and scratching areas. More far-reaching still,
however,isaSwedishlawpassedinJuly 1988 thatrequires
theabolitionofcagesforhensover thenexttenyearsand
statesthatcows,pigs,andanimalsraisedfortheirfursmust
be kept “in as natural an environment as possible.”^40
TherestofEuropeisstilldebatingthefutureofthebattery
cage.In 1986 the ministersofagriculture ofthe European
Communitycountriessettheminimumspaceallowancefor
laying hens at 450 square centimeters. Now it has been
decided that this minimum will not become a legal
requirementuntil1995.Dr.MandyHill,deputydirector of
the British Ministry of Agriculture’s Gleadthorpe
experimental farm,has estimated that 6.5 million birds in
Britain willneedtobe rehoused, indicatingthatthis many
birds at present have less than this ridiculously low
minimum.^41 ButsincethetotalBritishlayingflockisaround
50 million,andapproximately 90 percentofthesearekeptin