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[Guest guest]

25th November

 

The first article (below) from The Observer newspaper exposes the outrageous

conditions for UK factory farmed chickens raised for McDonald's and the meat

industry generally. The second article is about the banning of an

informative TV advert about these very conditions: described by the

commentator as 'the most pressing animal welfare issue in Britain'.

 

800 million chickens each year are crammed into grim disease-ridden broiler

sheds (with an average space each of less than an A4-size piece of paper),

unnaturally fattened up suffering leg injuries as a result, and killed after

only 41 days. The birds are reduced to mass-produced meat machines to boost

the profits of the companies involved, like McDonald's.

 

This is despite the damning McLibel High Court judgment in 1997 against

McDonald's for being 'culpably responsible for animal cruelty' which

particularly condemned the suffering involved in broiler production.

 

For an end to the exploitation of people, animals and the environment..

 

McLibel Support Campaign

 

 

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Independent on Sunday

25 November 2001

 

'Disgrace' of UK's factory chicken farms

 

What are we eating? - Campaigners and supermarkets at

odds over welfare standards

 

By Colin Brown, James Morrison and Geoffrey Lean

 

25 November 2001

 

All but one of Britain's main supermarket chains are ignoring

Government guidelines for the breeding of chickens used in

their products, according to an RSPCA survey.

 

The survey found that Asda, Safeway, Tesco, Waitrose, the

Co-op and fast food chain McDonald's insist that their so-called

" broiler " chicken products comply with the Assured Chicken

Producers standard for the industry. But this still allows the

birds to be intensively farmed in sheds at a density of up to 19

per sq.m. (11 sq.ft.).

 

Meanwhile, Elliot Morley, the animal health minister, is to push

for an EU directive to impose tougher standards on chicken

" factory farms " and will raise the issue next month with his EU

counterparts. He told the IoS: " We are determined to get a new

directive to improve conditions for chickens throughout

Europe. "

 

The UK survey found that, of the companies questioned, only

Marks & Spencer met the Government's guidelines, which

recommend a maximum density of 17 chickens per sq.m.

Iceland said it required the ACP standard and carried out

audits. Sainsbury's required ACP standards and refused to

accept poultry given repeated therapeutic veterinary medicines

without investigation. Kentucky Fried Chicken refused to fill in

the questionnaire.

 

Despite generally failing to comply with Government

recommendations, many of the companies questioned do offer

some poultry raised to higher standards, whether organically,

as free range or using the RSPCA's own " freedom " system.

 

The RSPCA is demanding that the breeding limit be reduced to

around 15 birds per sq.m. One of the authors of the report,

Caroline Le Sueur, said: " We want to see pressure put on the

supermarkets to change the practices on farms. "

 

UK ministers are to press the EU to speed up the introduction

of what will be the first regulations to clamp down on conditions

across the Continent. They argue that broiler chickens are the

one major area of intensive livestock production not so far

covered by the programme of EU animal welfare standards.

 

The Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is

also going ahead with a study into how broilers go lame when

they are only a few weeks old because their bodies grow too

big for their legs, and they have no room to exercise.

 

The European Commission has confirmed that it will table a

directive, acting on last year's report which recommended the

" stocking density " in broiler sheds should be reduced to a

maximum of 30kg, or 65lb, per sq.m. – 8kg less than is the

norm in Britain. But pressure group Compassion in World

Farming wants the UK to go further. Director Peter

Stevensonsaid: " It's a disgrace that we have this huge industry

that, in welfare terms, is under-regulated. I would like to see

the minister both push for swift action in Brussels and lead the

way over here, if possible by introducing our own legislation

first. "

 

An estimated 99 per cent of the 800 million chickens

slaughtered each year in Britain for their meat are

" factory-farmed " , in densities of 40,000 per shed and 18-19 per

sq.m. In contrast, 30 per cent of those bred in France are free

range.

 

British broilers are selectively bred to a weight of 2-2.5kg in just

41 days, by effectively being force-fed on high-energy cereal

grains. Back in the early 1960s, when the post-war intensive

farming boom was still in its infancy, it took 84 days for such

chickens to reach the same weight.

 

 

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RSPCA's chickens advert is banned as 'political'

 

By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor

 

23 November 2001

 

It may be the most pressing animal welfare issue in Britain –

but you won't be hearing about it on television just yet. An RSPCA

advertisement claiming that millions of British broiler chickens

undergo suffering on a massive scale while being bred for their

meat has been banned.

 

The advert, highlighting the pain and discomfort that the

RSPCA alleges 820 million broilers suffer in their six-week lives

every year, was deemed as unsuitable for showing by the

Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (Bacc), the body that

advises the television companies on the acceptability of their

advertising.

 

The advertisement, now to be shown only in cinemas, was set

to accompany the launch yesterday of a campaign on broilers

by the society. The RSPCA says that despite advances in

animal welfare, millions of these chickens still routinely endure

a catalogue of illness before they are slaughtered. The

illnesses range from sudden heart failure to leg pain, and from

ammonia burns to skin infections.

 

The Bacc found the advertisement, which compared the

speeded-up life of a broiler chicken, specially bred to put on

weight quickly, with that of a " normal " egg-laying hen, was in

breach of rule 10 of the Independent Television Commission's

advertising code. This lays down that " no advertisement may

be directed towards any political end " , and continues: " The

term 'political' ... precludes, for example, issue campaigning for

the purposes of influencing legislation or executive action by

central or local government. "

 

Bacc's controller, Tony Kingsbury, said in a letter to the

RSPCA's director of communication, John Rolls: " It is our

opinion that the commercial is designed to influence public

opinion in an area of controversy – namely the way in which

chickens are bred for fast-food outlets. "

 

Mr Rolls condemned the decision as " absolutely ridiculous " .

He said: " We thought it was quite extraordinary that we could

not put this on television. We should be able to raise issues

about how animals are kept, otherwise the diet of adverts on

TV would only be promoting products. There should be an open

debate about animal welfare or any other issue. It is far too

narrow at the moment. "

 

Chicken is now by far Britain's most popular meat. As a result,

the society says, broiler suffering is one of the most pressing

animal welfare issues in the UK. It has listed the miseries that

it says the birds undergo, and is urging people to transform the

lives of chickens by insisting that supermarkets demand

improved welfare standards from their suppliers.

 

Caroline Le Sueur, the RSPCA's senior scientific officer, said:

" Consumers have traditionally been largely unaware of the

suffering, but now they have a vital role to play in improving the

lives of the birds. Shoppers can influence animal welfare

standards by the food they choose and the pressure they put

on retailers to demand an end to systematic cruelty. "

 

Yesterday the National Farmers' Union disputed the RSPCA's

claims. An NFU spokeswoman said: " UK poultry breeders have

worked tirelessly and successfully over the past decade to

dramatically reduce the incidence of heart attacks and

lameness in broiler chickens, so we are disappointed that the

RSPCA has now chosen to write this report based on historical

data regarding bird welfare.

 

" UK poultry farmers operate to some of the highest standards

of animal welfare in the world. Most broiler chickens are reared

in housing where they are free to feed, drink and wander in a

temperature controlled climate.

 

" These types of houses are electrically lit and floors are usually

covered with straw or shavings.

 

" The European Commission has already expressed an interest

in introducing a minimum standard of animal welfare within the

broiler sector across Europe, which the NFU would support. "