15-year-old Lucy Gavaghan is back to save more hens (Image: Lucy Gavaghan)

It’s kind of ridiculous that in 2016, caged eggs are still are thing. But one teen is hoping that won’t be for much longer.

Earlier this year, 15-year-old Lucy Gavaghan forced Tesco to pledge to stop selling eggs from caged hens by 2026 after her petition to the store attracted 279,980 signatures.

And she’s not stopping there. Now, the teenage activist is setting her sights on Wagamama, Krispy Kreme and Millie’s Cookies, urging them all to review their ethics.

Lucy on BBC Breakfast earlier this year, talking about her Tesco egg campaign (Image: Lucy Gavaghan)

‘I am absolutely thrilled at the progress that’s been made so far this year to get hens out of cages in the UK,’ Lucy told Metro.co.uk.




‘It’s incredible to think that literally millions more hens will live happier lives thanks to public pressure, through my petition and the work of animal welfare groups such as Compassion in World Farming.’

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‘Unfortunately, millions will remain in cages, living a life of suffering and misery, until all companies in the UK commit to going cage-free once and for all. All of the major UK supermarkets have now committed to do this, so I wonder why a number of leading high-street brands can’t do the same?’

She’s written an open letter to the CEOs of Wagamama, Krispy Kreme and Millie’s Cookies, calling on them to change their ways.

Lucy's letter Date: 14th November 2016 To: Mr. David Campbell, CEO, Wagamama Mr. Anthony Thompson, CEO, Krispy Kreme Ms. Kate Swann, CEO, Millie’s Cookies (SSP Group) In the UK alone, over 20 million laying hens spend their entire lives caged. No hen should have to live like this. That’s why, alongside Compassion in World Farming, I am writing to ask you – some of the UK’s best-loved high street chains – to stop serving your customers eggs from caged hens. Having been part of the movement that successfully called on the leading UK supermarkets to go cage-free on their eggs, I am now dedicated to ending the use of cages for laying hens, once and for all. Keeping laying hens in cramped cages is not only cruel but completely unnecessary. As someone who owns hens myself, I know that they need to be cage-free to have a life worth living. As a nation of animal lovers, which takes pride in our standards of animal welfare, we should wake up to the fact that cages are outdated and have no place in modern farming systems. Some well-known high street names, such as Subway, McDonald’s and Pret, stopped serving eggs from caged systems some time ago, so why can’t you too? I believe that everyone should be able to eat ethically, whether at home or dining out. So, please, give a better life to the hens that lay the eggs you serve in your meals. Make the pledge to go cage-free on your whole eggs and ingredients by 2025 at the latest. Yours sincerely and in hope for the hens, Lucy Gavaghan

Philip Lymbery, Compassion in World Farming’s CEO, supports Lucy’s actions, saying, ‘It is great working with Lucy to deliver progress for hen welfare, as she is such a passionate ambassador for animals. Lucy proves how important individual’s actions are, and together we are making a real difference.’

‘We are witnessing a cage-free revolution right now in the UK. While some brands are leading the way, others just aren’t waking up to the fact that cage-free is the future. We won’t stop fighting until caging hens is consigned to the history books.’

The harsh reality of life for caged egg-laying hens (Image: FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP/Getty Images)

After all, if we’re going to eat a hen’s eggs, the least we can do is give them a good life, no?

As Lucy says: ‘For a hen in a cage, it makes no difference whether her eggs will be sold in a supermarket by the dozen or made into a cookie. Her suffering will be just as great. We must end this – companies have a responsibility to their customers and to hens to do better.’

Follow Lucy’s fight over on her Twitter.

UPDATE We have since been contacted by The Humane League who tell us that they recently secured a cage-free deal with Wagamama – and also Yo! Sushi. Wagamama have committed to going cage-free by 2024. Yo! Sushi have committed to going cage-free by 2020. ‘YO! Sushi and Wagamama’s commitments to source exclusively cage-free eggs is an important step in reducing the suffering of farm animals,’ said Pru Elliott, UK Corporate Campaigns Coordinator. ‘We believe that in the near future every major European company will make the same commitment to phase out cages, just as we see happening in the United States.’

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