The RSPCA wants the public to lobby their supermarket and encourage them to sign-up to a pledge to give chickens better lives – meeting consumer demand for higher welfare chicken this Christmas.

The charity’s Better Chicken campaign aims to help retailers meet the Better Chicken Commitment’s minimum broiler asks. This means providing meat chickens with more space, light and enrichment and ensuring they only use slower-growing, higher welfare breeds.

This comes after the RSPCA has been given permission to act as an intervener in a High Court appeal in a case against the UK Government – over the use of fast-growing breeds of chickens, which sadly often suffer from heart defects, lameness and even sudden death. The charity was deeply disappointed that the challenge was dismissed by the court back in May, describing it as ‘a huge missed opportunity to address the biggest issue for animal welfare in this country’ and will be supporting the Humane League UK in its appeal next year.

With chickens being the second most popular meat likely to be found on our dinner plates at Christmas, and with over 74 million meat chickens slaughtered in the UK in December alone last year, the charity is urging the public to choose ‘better chicken’ this Christmas.

Kate Parkes, poultry expert at the RSPCA, said: “The sheer scale of suffering involved with meat chickens means this is arguably the biggest animal welfare issue facing our nation today.

“Sadly, the vast majority of chicken reared for meat here in the UK are not given enough space, lighting or enrichment to meet their needs. Around nine in 10 chickens reared are also genetically selected to grow so fast that they often suffer from heart defects, lameness and lesions on their feet and legs, and even sudden death.

“This is why we wanted to act as intevener in the judicial review appeal which is seeing the Humane League UK taking DEFRA to court to try and prove that fast-growing chickens, or ‘frankenchickens’ as they have become known, are unlawful.

“Here at the RSPCA, all we want for Christmas is better chicken, who are provided with more space, lighting and enrichment, and allowed to grow at a more natural, slower pace.”

So far the charity has seen a whopping 46,000 actions taken on its Better Chicken campaign meaning the issue has resonated with tens of thousands of people – a clear sign to retailers to give shoppers the choice of higher welfare chicken.

What is the Better Chicken Commitment or BCC?

The Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) is a set of requirements for improving broiler welfare driving the food industry towards higher welfare practices. The key requirements are:

  • Indoor reared birds, without outdoor access, need to be given more room in order to have the chance to peck, scratch, dust bathe and rest without being disturbed
  • Indoor reared birds have natural light provided, which means they won’t spend their whole lives in dim, artificially lit conditions
  • Provision of enrichment items, things that the birds can explore and peck at, as well as perches so birds can roost
  • No cages or multi-tier systems
  • More humane methods of slaughter – eliminating the shackling and inversion of conscious birds.
  • The use of only slower-growing breed of chickens and not chickens which have been genetically selected to grow so fast they develop serious health issues

Waitrose and M&S have already signed-up to the Better Chicken Commitment but other leading supermarkets such as Co-op, Aldi, Asda, Iceland, Lidl, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Tesco are all yet to make the commitment.

Emily Harris, RSPCA campaigns manager, said: “We have worked with colleagues at RSPCA Assured, our farm assurance scheme, to create a helpful guide to make it as easy as possible for retailers to sign-up to the Better Chicken Commitment and improve animal welfare on a massive scale, meeting the desires of their customers.

“But we cannot make change happen without the public’s support so we’re urging everyone to harness your purchasing power and tell supermarkets directly that we want to see higher welfare chicken on supermarket shelves this Christmas. Over one billion chickens are slaughtered for meat in the UK every year so improving the lives of chickens will have a huge impact on farm animal welfare in one single stroke.”

The RSPCA needs the public’s support in raising awareness and showing that consumers want to see higher welfare chicken in the supermarkets and food service industry today.

To support the Better Chicken campaign and lobby your supermarket, visit:

https://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/campaign/betterchicken 

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