Danny Halpin, PA Environment Correspondent
03 May, 2023 13:48
An animal well-being charity has actually taken the Government to court in an effort to end the practice of breeding “Frankenchickens”.
Up to 90% of chickens offered in the UK are raised through extensive selective breeding to favour faster-growing poultry that can be given market quicker.
Over one billion chickens a year are reproduced and butchered in this method and they can reach a weight of 2.2kg in 35 days – 12 weeks much faster than 50 years earlier – while lots of are kept in unhygienic conditions.
Their fast development, with energy directed towards the muscles, can trigger serious illness for the birds such as leg defects, organ failure and ascites – likewise referred to as water tummy – where fluid leakages from the liver into the abdominal area triggering persistent discomfort and cardiovascular disease.
Many birds likewise spend approximately 70% of their life sitting, which triggers sores on the feet and other body parts that are regularly pushed versus the flooring. Lame birds can spend approximately 86% of their life sitting.
The Humane League, which has actually brought the case to the High Court, says the Government has actually misinterpreted the law in enabling farmers to breed fast-growing chickens which any modification to the birds’ environment would not enhance their well-being adequately as the illness originate from their genes.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) says it does not need to set laws on keeping specific types which duty lies rather with farmers.
Also included is the RSPCA which has actually said that fast-growing types cannot be kept without hinderance to their well-being.
Sean Gifford, handling director of The Humane League, said: “We call them Frankenchickens because they’re so unnatural. They have suffering hard-coded into their DNA.
“They grow four times quicker than they normally would and their bodies collapse from the weight.
“Up to 30% of these chickens on farms are suffering from chronic pain or leg deformities, they collapse on the floor of the sheds and have open wounds on their stomachs and legs from living in their own faeces and urine. It’s cruelty to animals, plain and simple.”
Edward Brown KC, representing The Humane League, said the charities and the Government disagreed on the analysis of animal well-being law, particularly one paragraph.
It checks out: “Animals may only be kept for farming purposes if it can reasonably be expected, on the basis of their genotype or phenotype, that they can be kept without any detrimental effect on their health or welfare.”
Mr Brown said: “There does appear to be a legal uncertainty, possibly a legal no-man’s-land, and the consequences of that is that the policies, practices and enforcement approach of the secretary of state are all based on an anterior legal error as to what the legal obligations are.”
Defra argues that fast-growing chicken types are not naturally condemned to suffer illness which there is no clinical agreement stating so.
A representative said: “We are proud to have some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world.
“All farm animals are protected by robust animal health and welfare legislation. This sets out detailed requirements on how farmed livestock, including meat chickens, must be kept.
“It is also an offence to cause any captive animal unnecessary suffering.”
Outside court, a crowd of animal well-being fans collected shouting “justice for chickens” and holding banners.
Among them was poet and long-lasting vegan Benjamin Zephaniah who said: “I don’t believe in eating animals, but if you are going to, at least let the animal live a life.
“No animal deserves to be bred in a way that gives them muscle pain, joint pain, leg pain, just so they grow 400% bigger over a certain period of time.
“A lot of these industries are not driven by simply feeding people and making a bit of a profit on top. It’s making maximum profit, and I can’t really think of another word but greed.
“It’s not rocket science. There’s another way, we can treat animals better. You can have better quality meat without all the cruelty.
“We should strive to do the least harm and the most good. It really is as simple as that.”
