Chickens in India live short and brutal lives: study

An animal rights body studies chicken production cycle and explains what was seen


News Desk September 14, 2017
An animal rights body studies the chicken production cycle – from birth to processing of meat – at five farms. PHOTO: FILE

The latest study of chicken farms in India has revealed that birds reared for meat spend short and brutal lives in the country, said Hindustan Times.

Animal Equality, a Pune-based animal rights organisation, studied the production cycle, from birth to processing of meat, at five farms and three markets between December 2016 and June 2017 and found that chicken production violates basic animal welfare and food safety standards in India.

As per the country’s food safety regulations and standards, the chicken should be reared, transported and slaughtered in humane conditions. However, the study revealed, the rules were not being followed at all.

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One-day-old chickens were stuffed and transported in boxes, fed with drug-laden food to gain weight and killed in cruel and unhygienic conditions.

“After being fed antibiotic-laden feed, which causes extreme weight gain, those who survive are brutally pulled out in groups and weighed by hanging them upside down,” said the study.

It also said that the sudden weight gain leaves the chicken crippled. The cramped conditions in the cages cause stress, heart attacks or respiratory infections. Once they reach their maximum weight, they are stuffed into a transport truck.

“They are sent on rigorous journeys which last for hours, sometimes days without food or water,” said Amruta Ubale, Executive Director Animal Equality.

In India, animals have to be stunned before slaughter as per the law. “We found that this is never practiced at all locations surveyed by us,” said Ubale.

According to the study, once the birds reach meat markets, they are crammed into small cages.

“Many birds develop infections and diseases. There is no health inspection conducted on the birds. Their throats are slit and they are thrown into drain bins where they languish in pain for several minutes before they die. Carcasses are de-feathered, hot torched or boiled in water in the filthiest of conditions,” said the study.

The unhygienic conditions of meat markets are also a public health hazard, it added.

The Poultry Federation of India (PFI) also confirmed unhygienic meat shops violate both food safety laws and laws protecting animals.

“The mindset in India still exists where the consumer approaches a meat shop, chooses his chicken and asks the butcher to slice it the way he wants. In such circumstances, the consumer mindset needs to change to enhance these laws that are being violated, which is not the case abroad,” said Ramesh Khatri, President PFI.

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Another probe into 20 poultry farms in India by Animal Equality also revealed that confining hens in battery cages - small wired cages used by farmers to keep the birds in their entire life, primarily for laying eggs – not only led to a number of deaths but also deformed and injured the birds' feet.

The animal rights organisation submitted findings of the studies to the Law Commission of India (LCI) with a list of recommendations for the welfare of chickens. “Our reports also pointed out to the existing animal welfare, food safety and transport laws which are violated,” said Ubale.

There are also concerns of the issue turning into a dangerous debate like the beef ban controversy in India. “We are taking steps to ensure that this industry functions with appropriate standards but to sensitise everyone about the correct practices might make it a political issue in a secular country like India,” said the President PFI.

This story originally appeared on Hindustan Times.

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