New Report Highlights Supermarkets’ Role in Animal Welfare Crisis
Tuesday, August 13, 2024 – A new report released today by animal charity The Humane League UK (THL UK) accuses supermarkets of being responsible for the “biggest animal welfare crisis in the country.” The report focuses on the use of fast-growing ‘Frankenchickens’ in the UK’s poultry industry.
These chickens, bred to reach slaughter weight in just 35 days, suffer from numerous health problems as a result of their rapid growth. The report states that this practice is causing immense suffering for billions of animals.
Renowned chef and animal welfare campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall emphasized the need for supermarkets to take action, stating, “If supermarkets spearheaded the movement to stop using Frankenchickens, billions of animals could have better lives in the coming years. It would be the most massive improvement to animal welfare in the UK, perhaps ever, and businesses could benefit as a result. We must ban the breed that has suffering built in – the status quo is cruel, wasteful and unjustifiable.”
The report, titled ‘Who’s selling you Frankenchickens?’, calls for supermarkets to sign up to the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) and improve their minimum welfare standards. It also highlights the confusion and misleading nature of current welfare labels.
Aaron Parr, Senior Campaigner at The Humane League UK, stated, “It is hard to imagine a worse life than that of a Frankenchicken. What should be a lively, curious bird has been transformed into an animal bred to suffer. Our plea to the public and supermarkets is to wake up. This is animal abuse, carried out against billions of birds right under our noses.”
The report also includes polling commissioned by YouGov, which revealed that while 75% of people consider animal welfare when shopping, 74% of those who purchase chicken meat products were not aware of the different welfare standards represented by various labels.
Despite some supermarkets, including Aldi, Tesco, Co-op, Morrisons, and Lidl, announcing plans to give their chickens more space, they still use Frankenchickens. The report points out that this is not enough and calls for supermarkets to fully commit to the BCC.
According to YouGov polling, 78.3% of Co-op loyalty card holders consider animal welfare an important factor when choosing where to shop – one of the highest percentages among supermarkets. However, Co-op has yet to fully adopt the BCC, despite their membership voting in favor of it at their 2023 AGM.
With 1.1 billion chickens raised and killed for meat every year in the UK, THL argues that the use of Frankenchickens in intensive factory farming conditions is an unparalleled crisis in animal welfare.
Over 380 businesses in the UK and EU have already committed to the BCC, including major food companies like KFC, Waitrose, Nando’s, Burger King, and M&S.
The Humane League UK is also leading a judicial review appeal case, set to take place this October, which could potentially put an end to the use of Frankenchickens in the UK for good.
Press release distributed by https://pressat.co.uk/.
