PRESS
RELEASE FROM COMPASSION IN WORLD FARMING - IRELAND
Monday
11 December 2006
TALKS
ON EU CHICKEN WELFARE DIRECTIVE COLLAPSE
Compassion
in World Farming (CIWF) is dismayed to learn that talks aimed at securing an
EU-wide Directive* to protect the welfare of chickens reared for meat
(broilers) have collapsed. The breakdown of the talks was caused by the ref=
usal
of France, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia to agree to the
very modest package of welfare reforms that were on the table.
Mary-Anne
Bartlett, Director of CIWF-Ireland, says:&=
nbsp;
"This
is a sad day for chickens. The
collapse of these talks means that over 5 billion broiler chickens reared e=
ach
year in the EU will not be protected by an EU Directive that lays down anim=
al
welfare standards for chicken farms.
It is a scandal that meat chickens, which are by far the most numero=
us
of Europe’s farmed animals, will continue to be unprotected by the la=
w. The failure of these talks represe=
nts a
major lost opportunity for EU chicken farmers to set improved welfare stand=
ards
and so establish European chicken as a higher welfare product than chicken =
meat
imported from outside Europe. It is
vital that these talks are revived as legislation is urgently needed to add=
ress
the serious health and welfare problems faced by broiler chickens."
Nearly
all broilers in the EU, including in Ireland, are farmed industrially. They are kept in huge windowless s=
heds
that are so overcrowded that, as the birds grow bigger, one can barely see =
the
floor so thickly is it ‘carpeted’ with chickens. Each shed may hold 20,000 birds or
more. In the Republic of Irel=
and,
about 67 million broiler chickens are slaughtered for meat each year.
Another
problem faced by today's broilers stems from the fact t=
hat they have been pushed (main=
ly
through selective breeding) to reach their slaughter weight in about 41 day=
s,
which is around twice as fast as 35 years ago. Their legs fail to keep pace with =
the
rapidly growing body and often buckle under the strain of supporting it.
CIWF
urges consumers to move away from factory farmed chicken and instead to opt=
for
free range or organic birds. =
We
also call on supermarkets to set higher welfare standards for indoor reared
chickens; in particular, they should insist on the birds being given more s=
pace
and on the use of slower-growing breeds that have much lower lameness levels
than the standard fast-growing chickens.
(*The
Directive in question is the proposed "EU Directive on the protection =
of
chickens kept for meat production".)
For further information:
Please
contact Mary-Anne Bartlett on 021 4639038
-ENDS-
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Compassion
in World Farming - Ireland
P.O. Box 750, Togher, =
Cork,
Republic of Ireland.
Tel:
021 4639038 or
00 353 21 4639038 from outside the Republic of Ireland.