The RSPCA has announced it is contributing evidence in a judicial review at the Court of Appeal arguing that fast-growing breeds of chicken are unlawful.
Fast-growing chickens make up about 90% of chicken sold in supermarkets and experience health and welfare issues in life.
The Humane League UK is taking the UK government back to court after the Court of Appeal granted its case following an earlier outcome in May last year when the High Court rejected the charity’s legal challenge against the secretary of state for Defra.
The appeal will be heard on Wednesday and Thursday at the Royal Courts of Justice and the RSPCA will act as intervener and provide vital scientific evidence.
The law states that animals cannot be farmed if it is likely their genetics cause health and welfare problems, but nearly a billion chickens are bred to grow as much meat as possible in the shortest time.
Consequently, the chickens often struggle to stand, develop lesions on their legs, suffer from heart defects and can even experience sudden death, the animal welfare charity said.
The RSPCA compared the rearing of these chickens to genetically breeding a morbidly obese 28 stone three-year-old human child.
“The scale of the suffering involved with meat chickens is huge – we are talking nearly a billion chickens every single year who live short, brutal lives with serious health and welfare issues which could so easily be avoided,” said Kate Parkes, meat chicken specialist at the RSPCA.
“It’s really important to stress that slower-growing breeds, with significantly better health and welfare, are already available and commercially viable,” Parkes added. “Chickens reared under the RSPCA Assured scheme are all slower-growing breeds, which shows that there’s no excuse for subjecting fast-growing breeds to such misery.”
The RSPCA supports the Better Chicken Commitment, which encourages companies to commit to raising welfare standards across their supply chain of chicken. The charity is calling on all major supermarkets to sign up now.
No comments yet