RIGA, Aug 30 (LETA) - Around 250 people on Saturday joined a demonstration in Riga organized by the Animal Freedom NGO against keeping laying hens in cages, LETA observed.

Participants of the march carried signs like "Freedom for Hens!", "For a human Treatment of Hens", "Ban Hens' Suffering!" and "Ban Hen Prisons". There were also posters featuring photos of caged hens. A few people wore chicken costumes, and some others had put on chicken masks.

Before the march, participants shouted "What do we want? Freedom for the hens! When do we want it? Now!" During the march, participants beat drums and chanted the slogan "Freedom for animals!"

The march aims to call on lawmakers in Latvia to ban the keeping of laying hens in cages.

The march started at the Riga House of Congresses and ended in Independence Square in front of the Saeima.

As reported earlier, Katrina Krigere, the leader of the Animal Freedom, said that participation in the march is an opportunity to stand up for animal protection together with like-minded people and to promote changes in the law that would free animals from suffering.

According to the NGO's estimates, around 2.5 million laying hens, or about 70 percent, were kept in cages in Latvia last year. According to the campaign's organizers, five companies in Latvia use cage systems to produce chicken eggs.