Dear fellow animal lover,

Today a report released by The Humane League UK demonstrates that chickens raised to the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) standards experience 66% less severe pain than conventionally farmed birds. 

‘Severe pain’ is defined by the Welfare Footprint Project as pain which makes life ‘not worth living’ and includes the highest intensities of disabling and excruciating pain. 

THL’s new report, named The State of the Chicken Industry report, highlights the continued reluctance of supermarket giants, with the exception of Waitrose and M&S, to sign the BCC to the detriment of hundreds of millions of animals. As it stands, only a small proportion of supermarket ranges include BCC-compliant chicken compared to fast-growing ‘FrankenChickens’, who suffer from painful health conditions like lameness, ammonia burns and heart attacks. 

The BCC is a welfare policy that aims to drastically reduce the suffering of chickens raised for meat by providing more space, natural light, and enrichment; less painful slaughter methods; third party auditing; and by prohibiting the use of fast-growing breeds.

If supermarkets such as Morrisons, Co-op, and Tesco committed to the BCC standards, this would improve the lives of around 938 million chickens a year and prevent unnecessary suffering. 

This August we want Morrisons to step up and address their cruel use of ‘FrankenChickens’ - so let’s make sure this issue gets passed up the chain! 

Action 1: Call Morrisons customer service line on (UK) 03456116111 (option 1 and then press 3) and express your concerns for the welfare of fast-growing chickens sold in their stores and ask why the company still hasn't adopted the Better Chicken Commitment.  

Action 2: Comment below and let us know how your call went! 

Thank you for taking action for the chickens. 

From

The Humane League UK on behalf of Chris Packham