Biedronka (Jeronimo Martins), the biggest retailer chain in Poland, publishes a press release announcing that they will phase out cage eggs (all whole fresh eggs) by 31st December 2021Poland
Our achievements
2020
December
November
After the launch of the Chefs For Change chapter in Estonia, two TV programs cover the campaign and interviewed the ambassador ChefsEstonia
Nähtamatud Loomad rescues the remaining 40 chinchillas left from a fur farm. In total 105 chinchillas were saved and rehomed during the campaignEstonia
October
The Climate Challenge in Estonia launches with a record number of participants including 9 politicians and 5 companies Estonia
The first reading of the fur farming ban bill in the Parliament of Estonia was successful! Following the reading, MPs will make amendments and we will have the 2nd and the 3rd reading in the upcoming weeksEstonia
In Norway, Orkla releases a global cage-free policy! Orkla has 338 brands and 106 factories in 20 different countries and their products are sold in over 100 countriesNorway
September
The 7th biggest retailer chain in Poland–Carrefour, commits publicly to stop selling live carps starting in 2021Poland
August
Global café chain Joe & the Juice has committed to the European Chicken Commitment (ECC), in all markets in collaboration with Anima InternationalAnima International
July
Following Tušti Narvai’s fish campaign, the retail chain Maxima announces they will ditch fish tanks by the beginning of 2021. They will reduce the number of tanks by 104 in one month and ditch the rest 28 tanks next year. This means reduction of suffering for about 240000 fish each yearLithuania
June
One of the most well known members of the Parliament in Lithuania, joins Tušti Narvai’s Plant-based Challenge. News is covered by national mediaLithuania
Anima Denmark publishes its results on their corporate cage-free outreach campaign progress and announces a reduction of ~69% of the production of cage-eggs in just 5 yearsDenmark
May
Following Tušti Narvai’s fish campaign, one of the biggest supermarket chains–IKI, announces that it will no longer sell live fish. This will spare the lives of 50K fish a yearLithuania
Otwarte Klatki published its first supermarket chain ranking following their cage-free campaignPoland
Otwarte Klatki published its second implementation report on its cage-free campaign and held an online press conferencePoland
April
Assiettes Végétales joins Anima InternationalFrance
Record number of people in Russia participating in the plant-based challenge Russia, after a link to the campaign was published on national media following an article written by representatives of Open Cages Russia linking animal agriculture and epidemics Russia
Danpo in Denmark, announces it will discontinue the use of fast growing chickens (Ross 308) over the next year and a half. This will affect up to 50 million chickens' livesDenmark
The largest convenience store in Denmark, 7-Eleven (172 locations), decides to stop using fast growing chickens (Ross 308) and states that in 2022 it will improve conditions to further meet the European Chicken Commitment (ECC)Denmark
March
Scandic Hotels – largest hotel chain in Denmark with 27 locations – commits to The European Chicken Commitment (ECC) starting in 2022 and in 2025 20% of chickens will have outdoor accessDenmark
Celebrity Joanna Lumley supports Open Cages UK in their campaign following their undercover investigation to allow farm suppliers film the conditions of chickens sold in Tesco’s supermarketUnited Kingdom
Lidl Denmark announces it will be abandoning the use of fast growing chickens (Ross 308) with immediate effect for all fresh chickens (making up to 80-90% of all it’s chicken products). This is equivalent to 3.5 million birds’ lives improved per yearDenmark
Open Cages Ukraine publishes the footage, as part of its investigation into the Ukrainian egg industry. The footage was filmed by a former factory worker inside one of the farms owned by the Ovostar company, Ukraine’s second largest egg producerUkraine
February
Our plant-based team in Poland, RoślinnieJemy, partners with FORBES to present entrepreneurs pioneering the plant-based revolution in the food marketPoland
Otwarte Klatki’s institutional plant-based campaign: RoślinnieJemy, publishes an article on HoReCa’s magazine (food service and hotel industries) with 10K+ printed copiesPoland
Tušti narvai’s latests fur farm investigation reaches more national media to push politicians to commit to a banLithuania
One of the biggest food restaurant chains in Estonia, Baltic Restaurants, announces it will go cage free by 2025. With over 130 locations also including Daily and Daily Special lunch restaurants which operate in many schools and pre-school institutionsEstonia
After the negotiations with Anima International, THL, ASF and as a result of collaboration with many other organizations, METRO (known in many countries as Makro) committed to sourcing 100% shell eggs and liquid eggs by 2022 in southern and western Europe, 2025 in Eastern Europe including Ukraine and Russia and by 2027 in all remaining markets which include China, India, Japan, and Pakistan
January
The plant based program - PlanteVækst is launched in Denmark with an outstanding award night where politicians, leading organisations and businesses as well as advisory boards for the food ministry, chefs and national media joinDenmark
Otwarte Klatki’s institutional plant-based campaign: RoślinnieJemy, is named action of the year by VOGUE in PolandPoland
One of the biggest Veganmania’s organised so far in Katowice partners with 100+ vendors and gathers 4000+ attendeesPoland
2019
December
Nähtamatud Loomad is chosen as the best NGO of the year in Estonia, an award which is handed by the Estonian president Kersti KaljulaidEstonia
Open Cages UK publishes a new undercover investigation into a Tesco broiler farm, which is widely covered by national and international mediaUnited Kingdom
Anima international is ranked as one of the most effective animal protection charities in the world by Animal Charity Evaluators as a Top Charity
Open Cages Ukraine takes part again in Zdorovo Jimo Food Expo 2019, one of the biggest business expositions in Ukraine, where they established town new partnershipsUkraine
November
14,000 signatures are handed in to the Rural Minister of Estonia to ban the live export of animals from Estonia to non-EU countriesEstonia
Our team in Russia organises the Vegan Day, which is a free event for vegan challenge participants and mentorsRussia
Our representative from Open Cages Belarus speaks at a round-table discussion in the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia (State Duma), in regards to the “Law enforcement practice under article 245 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: why torturing animals remains unpunished?Russia
The Lithuanian team Tušti narvai publishes its 5th fur farm investigation reaching national media and pushing politicians to commit to a fur-free country Lithuania
Otwarte Klatki, our team in Poland, launches an outdoor campaign with celebrities as a part of their fur ban campaign. Billboards are placed all around WarsawPoland
Tušti narvai in Lithuania publishes an advertisement on 3 national newspapers, as part of their fur campaign, challenging fur farmers to allow filming in their facilities to show society how they farm and kill minksLithuania
Following Otwarte Klatki’s investigation into chicken farms in 2018, one of the workers abusing animals has been found guilty of animal cruelty and sentenced to a four-month suspended prison sentence of 2 yearsPoland
October
A permanent ban on moose hunting is achieved in UkraineUkraine
The Food Innovation Summit leads to an international award being granted to an Estonian company to develop innovative meat alternativesEstonia
The second Plant-Powered Perspectives conference is held in WarsawPoland
Our team in Estonia collects more than 5,000 digital signatures against fur farms, making the digital petition the biggest ever in Estonia and triggering a parliamentary debateEstonia
Our team in Russia launches their first Vegan Challenge with 470 participantsRussia
Our team in Russia joins the cage-free campaign against Wyndham HotelsRussia
Our team in Russia is invited to one of the biggest HoReCa events in Russia Coffee Tea Ru Expo 2020Russia
The Stockbridge', an award winning Edinburgh restaurant, removes Foie Gras from their menu, following the start of Open Cages UK campaignUnited Kingdom
The first International Ambassador of Chefs For Change project joins! The British chef Daniel Watkins, one of the best chefs in the world and winner of the ‘Food Art Top Chef’ award, supports and is part of the international CFC chapter
Dinings SW3 removes foie gras from their menu following Open Cages UK pressure campaignUnited Kingdom
Nähtamatud Loomad organises a climate panel following their plant-based campaign which hosted 100+ people and with speakers such as Bolt, Stockholm from the Climate Institutehad. The panel was live broadcasted on the website of one of the biggest national newspapersEstonia
September
A letter signed by 25 animal welfare experts condemning Tesco’s poor broiler welfare standards is published. Tesco reacts by introducing a new line of higher welfare chickenUnited Kingdom
As a result of our campaign and with the collaboration of other organisations in Poland (CIWF, ASF, Viva), Tesco commits to stop selling live fish in 2020Poland
The Biggest Polish online supermarket Frisco introduces the first ECC policy for broiler chickensPoland
Eights foxes are saved following an investigation into a fur farm. We continue to push further for a complete ban in PolandPoland
Open Cages Ukraine wins the case to ban animals in Odessa state circusUkraine
Our investigations team in Poland carry out an intervention on a neglected fox farm and save 8 beautiful foxes who are rehomedPoland
Chefs for Change Poland organises the biggest dinner with 200+ guests, being the largest plant-based fine dining dinner in Poland, where renowned chefs who have implemented plant-based dishes into their menus cook for a more environmentally, health-friendly and modern gastronomyPoland
August
The second round of our campaign against common practices in the dairy industry is released in DenmarkDenmark
The first two restaurants in Ukraine commit to stop selling foie grasUkraine
Investigation into UK broiler farming released by Open Cages published in The Times, followed by coverage in multiple local and national mediaUnited Kingdom
July
MHP, the last remaining foie gras producer in Ukraine, announces the closure of their foie gras production facilitiesUkraine
The campaign to establish an Animal Rights Ombudsman in Poland is launched. So far more than 15,000 people have signed our online petition to the members of the Polish ParliamentPoland
First European Chicken Commitment (ECC) is signed in Poland by the Polish retailer FRISCO and the biggest Polish retailer Biedronka. The European Chicken Commitment has been created by animal welfare organisations to reduce the suffering of 7.2 billion chickens that are fattened and slaughtered in Europe every yearPoland
June
The “Law Seminar on Animal Rights” is co-organized in Chernivtsi City Council with the Ukrainian NGO NebaiduzhiUkraine
RoślinnieJemy, our institutional plant-based campaign, receives an award as one of the best positive impact start-ups (Startup Pozytywnego Wpływu) listed in the ranking prepared by Kozminski Business Hub and Deloitte PolandPoland
Over 350,000 signatures demanding better broiler welfare are handed over to Tesco at their annual stakeholder meeting, together with RSPCAUnited Kingdom
May
Open Cages Ukraine feature on National television raising awareness about the cruelty of live animal exportsUkraine
The first conference on animal law in Ukraine is organized at the Faculty of Law in Taras Shevchenko National University in KievUkraine
An official petition for the ban of fur farms is started in Estonia to put pressure on the newly elected members of ParliamentEstonia
A public debate takes place between the representatives of the main Polish political parties on their own visions of animal protection policy at national and EU levelsPoland
April
The first ever competition announcing the three best restaurants based on their plant-based menus is launched in UkraineUkraine
Local communities block a farm for over 3 million chickens per year with the help of Open Cages PolandPoland
Our Ukraine team hold an eye-catching demonstration against the use of eggs from caged hens during EasterUkraine
Local communities block the construction of a farm for over 1.3 million chickens per year with the help of Open Cages PolandPoland
March
Footage taken on fur farms is released on national televisionUkraine
Local communities block a farm for over 7 million chickens per year with the help of Open Cages PolandPoland
February
A bill is introduced to ban mink farming, with three out of nine parties supporting it in the Danish ParliamentDenmark
2018
December
The petition for the Parliament to ban fur farming receives more than 28,000 signatures making it the third most signed petition on animal issues in LithuaniaLithuania
Kristina Mering, President of our Estonian branch, is recognized by the President of Estonia as the best volunteer engager/coordinator of the year across the countryEstonia
Open Cages Ukraine takes part in its first Zdorovo Jimo Food Expo 2018, being one of the biggest business expositions in UkraineUkraine
November
Local communities block a farm for over 2 million chickens per year from being built, with the help of Open Cages PolandPoland
A bill to ban fur farming is introduced into the Estonian ParliamentEstonia
The Danish team launch the dairy campaign ”12 hours with mom”Denmark
Event with the Ministry of Agriculture about animal welfare is co-organized with CIWF and EcodiyaUkraine
October
We ensure that a bill proposing a ban on raising and killing animals for their fur (with a transition period) is registered in parliament and is signed by 19 MPs from different partiesLithuania
Our campaign urging Auchan to go cage-free is launchedUkraine
Our Food Innovation Summit leads to an international award being granted to an Estonian company to develop innovative meat alternativesEstonia
The first Plant-Powered Perspectives conference is organised in WarsawPoland
September
On the 1st day of the Parliamentary session, we organize a protest with dead minks in front of the Lithuanian Parliament urging MPs to stop the fur industryLithuania
Top chefs take part in a two week outdoor advertising campaign in Estonia standing against the caging of hens by the egg industryEstonia
Open Cages Ukraine organizes the first ever animal rights conference in UkraineUkraine
Patrick Harvie MSP, leader of the Scottish Green Party, backs our call for a Fur Free BritainUnited Kingdom
Showroom, the biggest Polish online platform for fashion retailers and designers, joins the Fur Free Retailer programPoland
August
A new investigation on Lithuanian fur farms is publishedLithuania
40 billboards demanding cage-free company policies are installed in Vilnius and Kaunas for three weeksLithuania
July
We co-organize a seminar at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development about the threats of industrial farmingPoland
June
The first cage-free campaign is launched in Belarus
Open Cages and HSI UK hold a protest outside Parliament while it debates the fur imports ban. Labour, the main opposition party, officially backs the banUnited Kingdom
April
We organize the conference “The Rise of Industrial Farming in Poland” in the Polish Parliament. 160 people participate in the event including MPs, government officials, scientists, industry experts and representatives of local communitiesPoland
March
An Open Cages UK representative appears on the BBC along with footage from a Polish fur farm, ahead of parliamentary debate on banning fur importsUnited Kingdom
January
Nähtamatud Loomad achieves 34% of the retail sector to go cage free Estonia