The Open Cages group stated that the video reveals the reality suffered by millions of chickens in the UK each year, and they have never seen so many animals unable to walk in an investigation.
LUKE ANDREWS: ‘Sadistic “workers” have been caught throwing dead chickens at live birds, holding chickens upside down and swinging them into each other by a hidden camera at a farm that supplies major supermarkets. The chickens – that live for 36 days before they are slaughtered – were also shown with splayed legs, chemical burns and convulsing on the faeces-covered floor at Moorah farm in Essex.
The RSPCA has called for an investigation, after saying it was ‘concerned’ about birds being hurled inside the barn containing 30,000 chickens, while an animal welfare expert said handling the birds upside down was ‘not common practice’. It will put further pressure on businesses including Tesco’s, Sainsbury’s and Aldi, to sign up to the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC), which will tie them to improving chicken welfare by 2026. The shocking footage, filmed by a camera hidden in the barn by animal rights group Open Cages, shows one worker shuffling chickens across the floor before breaking an unwell bird’s neck and throwing it into the centre of the room. A second bird is then also thrown, causing other chickens to scatter.
In harrowing footage taken over two visits to the farm in October by animal rights group Open Cages, one bird is seen flapping helplessly as its body shivers, while others are seen lying in the corner of the barn, appearing to be dead. Chicken corpses piled so high they filled a wheelie bin were also pictured outside the barn. As many as 3,412 chickens died before slaughter at a different barn on the farm, revealing the horrifying conditions they are subjected to. Chickens from this farm were sold by Tesco’s until June this year. Since then, they may still be exported to other UK supermarkets or sold in ready meals to the EU and Africa…
Open Cages, which conducted the investigation which reveals the reality suffered by millions of chickens in the UK each year, said they had ‘never seen so many animals unable to walk’ in an investigation before… ‘This is how the vast majority of chicken is produced,’ said Open Cages CEO Connor Jackson. ‘Just before Christmas, Tesco customers are dazzled by buzz words like ‘high standards’ and idyllic labels. ‘The nauseating standards we have documented show anything but that. Shops like Tesco are misleading their loyal customers. “The good news is that we as consumers have a choice, and we can choose to avoid supporting such animal abuse this Christmas”.’ SOURCE…
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