NEWS RELEASE
Monday 22nd April 2002 - For Immediate Use
Chronic pain. Crippled. Dying. These were the conditions of the
chickens, some as young as 13 days old, which Advocates for Animals
undercover investigators filmed inside two randomly-chosen intensive
Scottish farms 'growing' chickens for industry leader Grampian
Country Foods.
Grampian is the UK's leading independent agri-food business and
supplies all major supermarkets. It claims to have quality standards
that are "second to none" and that it is "resolutely committed to the
highest standards of bird welfare". However, pressure group Advocates
for Animals is challenging Grampian's standards and commitment to
bird welfare by releasing video footage showing:
- Crippled birds barely able to walk
- Birds with red-raw balding patches
- A pile of dead birds lying alongside living birds
Grampian produces 240 million chickens each year, nearly a third of
the annual UK total of about 800 million. The vast majority of these
birds are factory farmed, with 'crops' of up to 40,000 birds
carpeting the huge windowless evil-smelling sheds. Selective breeding
for faster and faster growth rates of the valuable body muscle has
led to very young birds suffering from widespread health problems
such as painful leg disorders and acute heart failure. Over 100,000
birds die each day before they reach the slaughter age of just 6
weeks - many from painful, distressing conditions.
Grampian's 4.6 million birds 'grown' each week equate to about 6,000T
of chicken product. With concerns about both animal welfare and food
safety throughout the broiler chicken industry, Advocates is sending
copies of their footage to all major supermarket chains and
suggesting that it is in the best interests of both human and animal
health that they insist on more acceptable welfare standards..
Advocates for Animals Campaigns Director, Ross Minett, today hit out
at Grampian's 'high welfare' claims: "We have exposed the reality of
intensive farming that Grampian, with their 'wholesome' image, would
like to keep hidden behind the closed doors of their factory farms.
We believe people will be sickened by the suffering that we have
exposed on this randomly-chosen chicken farm. We filmed birds which
we believed were suffering chronic pain. Some were hobbling,
stumbling around and falling over.others barely able to walk.others
were dead or dying - all in the name of cheap food. Modern day
factory farming is big business. Animals are viewed, and therefore
treated, as units of production, not sentient creatures capable of
suffering. If cats and dogs were treated in this way, people would be
outraged - and quite rightly so. Supermarket buyers should be
questioning whether this treatment of animals is acceptable to both
them and their customers. Living birds next to a pile of dead birds
must surely pose a health risk. As usual, it is not just the animal
that is paying the price for cheap mea, but also the hapless
consumer."
This latest investigation comes hot on the heels of Advocates for
Animals' recent exposé of a rat-infested Scottish pig farm.
-ENDS-
Notes to Editors: Advocates for Animals' footage was filmed inside:
Raw Camps Farm, Almondale Farm (1/4/02) and Hillside Farm (3/4/02) -
West Lothian, Scotland.
For video footage, photos, interviews or further information, call
Advocates for Animals' office on 0131 225 6039. Our out of hours call
Campaigns Manager Ross Minett on 07946 517 585 or Director Les Ward
on 07971 590337.
Yours sincerely
ROSS MINETT
Campaigns Director
Advocates for Animals
10 Queensferry Street, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH2 4PG
Tel: +44 (0)131 225 6039 Fax: +44 (0)131 220 6377
www.advocatesforanimals.org.uk
United Poultry Concerns, Inc.
PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405-0150
757-678-7875
FAX: 757-678-5070
www.upc-online.org
(Undercover Campaigners Expose Factory Chicken Suffering)
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