(IN): PETA SAYS FACTORY-FARM FILTH IS BEHIND BIRD FLU OUTBREAK

[Guest guest]

*For Immediate Release:*

 

12 December 2008

 

*Contact:*

 

Nikunj Sharma (0)9967766220; *NikunjS* <NikunjS

 

 

 

*PETA SAYS FACTORY-FARM FILTH IS BEHIND BIRD FLU OUTBREAK*

 

*Group has revealed shocking reality and filth in the poultry farms in the

North-Eastern state.*

 

Guwahati – In the midst of a severe outbreak of avian flu, People for the

Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India has revealed the realities of

crowded and filthy chicken and egg factory farms along with a report linking

these conditions to the outbreak of Bird Flu. Leading health experts –

including those at the UN – blame unhygienic conditions for the spread of

the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. The report documents the scalding,

starvation and mutilation of birds as well as the potential for the spread

of disease from chickens to humans.

 

Filthy and unhygienic conditions on factory farms can lead to repeated

outbreaks of bird flu. In 2007, Indian health officials confirmed a bird flu

outbreak among poultry in the north-eastern state of Manipur. In January,

five people in India were quarantined because of bird flu symptoms.

According to the World Health Organization, out of the 342 registered cases

of the H5N1 strain of bird flu, 211 people in 13 countries have died so far.

Factory farms with structures such as broiler sheds and battery hen

warehouses virtually invite the virus to strike. Because of the intensive

confinement of the animals, the deadly virus can spread like wildfire.

Humans who handle infected birds can catch bird flu, and experts fear that

the virus will eventually mutate into a form that is transmissible from

human to human, which could set off a catastrophic worldwide pandemic.

Outbreaks of bird flu every year waste public money as crores and crores are

disbursed as compensation. According to Health Minister A Ramadoss, the

government paid more than $19,47,619 as compensation for poultry and feed in

2006, and more than $2,23,810 was paid for birds culled in the 2007

outbreak.

 

Because of the filthy and cramped conditions that chickens raised for meat

and eggs are forced to endure – including being scalded to death in

contaminated defeathering tanks – diseases are rampant. According to *

www.environmentaldefense.org* <http://www.environmentaldefense.org/>,

" Antibiotics are routinely fed to healthy livestock and poultry to make them

gain weight faster and to compensate for unsanitary living conditions " .

According to researcher Malati Puranik, who conducted a study of chickens

sold all over Mumbai, " [W]e realised that poultry sold under such unhygienic

conditions is a serious health hazard. Pathogens such as campylobacter and

salmonella proliferate, causing severe bacterial contamination " . During the

evisceration process, chicken carcasses easily become contaminated with

faecal material when the intestines are cut or torn and the contents leak

out during extraction.

 

In 2005, approximately 2 billion " broiler " chickens were slaughtered in

India. These birds are crammed by the tens of thousands into dark, filthy

sheds, where the ammonia from the chickens' accumulated waste burns their

eyes. According to Dr Vandana Shiva, modern " meat chickens " are pushed to

reach their slaughter weight in just 40 to 42 days, and typically the

supporting structure of legs, heart and lungs fails to keep pace with the

rapidly growing body, leading to problems such as congestive heart failure

and ascites – a pooling of body fluids in the abdomen. For many birds, leg

problems are so severe that they are unable to reach food and water. During

transportation to slaughter – which involves long rides in all weather

extremes – broken bones commonly occur. After they arrive at abattoirs,

chickens are rapidly shackled and hung by their feet from conveyors in

mechanised slaughterhouses. Many are *dumped into scalding-hot defeathering

tanks while still conscious*. At small butcher shops, chickens have their

throats cut on the floor or the butcher's block in unhygienic conditions

while other birds watch.

 

Life for egg-laying hens is equally miserable. Millions spend their entire

lives confined to tiny " battery " cages in huge factory warehouses which

contain as many as 1,500 to 2,000 cages, each holding six to seven birds,

who are packed together so tightly they cannot even stretch a wing. Chicks

who are 9 days old have their sensitive beaks cut off with a searing-hot

blade in a process called debeaking. Hens lose their feathers as a result of

stress and constant rubbing against the wire cages; their bodies become

covered with bruises, abrasions and boils.

 

In its report, PETA suggests that the chicken industry improve the

conditions in which birds are grown and killed. The group believes that this

much is owed to the birds because of how inhumanely they are currently

treated. The report has a copy of the welfare standards recommended by the

UK's Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) for

laying hens and pullets, hatcheries (for layer and broiler chicks) and

chickens. These should be used as the most basic of guidelines by the

poultry industry. The government blamed Bangladesh for the spread of bird

flu when the disease struck the northeastern state of Tripura early this

year.

 

" The government is wrong to shift the blame to other countries for the

outbreak of bird flu when conditions on their own farms are pathetic " , said

PETA's campaign coordinator Nikunj Sharma. " Chickens are social and

sensitive birds who deserve basic respect. Implementing simple welfare

standards would improve conditions on factory farms and the lives of

chickens – though, the only certain way to safeguard our own health and stop

the abuse of chickens is to go vegetarian. "

 

The full 40-page report is available upon request. For more information,

please visit *www.PETAIndia.com* <http://www.petaindia.com/>*. *

 

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