FACTORY CHICKEN INDUSTRY ROASTED IN INDIA, UK

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>Environmental News Service, 12/26/00

 

http://ens-news.com/ens/dec2000/2000L-12-26-11.html

 

MUMBAI, India, December 26, 2000 (ENS) - India's meat eaters

might be thinking twice about their carnivorous ways after an

animal welfare group unveiled a billboard ad this week depicting

a chicken preparing to eat a human leg on a plate.

 

The ad, designed by Mudra Communications Limited, one of India's

biggest advertising agencies, appeared all over Mumbai, formerly

known as Bombay. It is part of a campaign launched by the People

for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to convince the public of

the benefits of a healthy, humane diet.

 

Chickens raised in factory farms spend their entire lives in

dark, crowded conditions. Many are so cramped they cannot turn

around or spread their wings. They briefly glimpse daylight on an

equally cramped, hot ride to the slaughterhouse, where their

throats are cut while fully conscious.

 

PETA's campaign will see the ads appear in Calcutta, Delhi,

Bangalore and Chennai, before moving overseas to the United

States, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. It

follows a similar high profile strategy taken by the group

Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), which last week raised the

issue of suffering in the broiler chicken industry.

 

Broilers are chickens reared for their meat, not to produce

eggs. Modern broilers have been pushed through selective breeding

to reach their slaughter weight in just 41 days - twice as fast

as 35 years ago.

 

The chicken's legs cannot keep pace with the rapid body growth

and often buckle under the strain of supporting the overdeveloped

body. As a result, many of the 800 million broiler chickens

reared in the UK each year suffer painful, sometimes crippling

leg disorders.

 

In the worst cases, the birds cannot walk at all and can only

move by crawling on their shanks.

 

Earlier this month the Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC), an

independent body appointed to advise the UK Minister of

Agriculture Elliot Morley, wrote to Morley stressing that painful

leg disorders continue to be a serious welfare problem for

broiler chickens.

 

Welcoming FAWC's initiative, CIWF's Peter Stevenson called on

Morley to " take urgent action to end painful leg disorders and

lameness, " in broiler chickens.

 

In recent years, the broiler industry has been conducting its

own survey into the extent of leg problems in the UK industry.

Their results were presented to the FAWC which, in its letter to

Morley said it was " severely disappointed " that the industry's

survey showed no significant improvement in the level of leg

weakness.

 

CIWF cites a recent article in World Poultry magazine, which

claims that by 2005, the broiler chicken industry plans to breed

the birds to be 575 grams - heavier than their current slaughter

age of 41 days.

 

This would mean the birds being pushed to grow even faster.

 

PETA, like CIWF, is calling on the public to do its part to

improve conditions for the birds.

 

" PETA is asking people to think about what they're eating, " said

PETA's Jason Baker. " Chickens are living, feeling animals who

suffer terribly before and during slaughter. This ad cleverly

reminds us that humans and chickens share the capacity for pain. "

 

A.G. Krishnamurthy, chairman of the Mudra Group whose clients

include Hindustan lever, Johnson & Johnson and Indian Oil

Corporation, said, " We were extremely pleased to contribute to

PETA's vegetarian campaign. It was inspiring to work on such

ideals. "