Exposed: Injured and Deformed Birds Living in Squalid Conditions on German Duck Farm
A shocking new investigation reveals injured and deformed birds living in squalid conditions and killed without prior stunning.
The new PETA Germany investigation exposes the abuse of ducks on a farm in Melle, Lower Saxony. Ducks need water, but on this farm thousands of ducks are crammed into a barren shed with no access to open water sources and no opportunity to carry out their natural behaviour. Many of the ducks have lost their feathers, and several appear to be suffering from leg deformities and walking difficulties as a result of being bred to produce as much flesh as possible.
A worker was caught on camera carrying ducks to an outdoor shed, where he appears to hold the panicked, struggling birds down with his foot, before cutting their throats – without the required stunning – and dumping them into a bin. Some of the birds are still moving as he throws them away, leaving them to die in agony of suffocation or blood loss.
This isn’t the first time that cruelty has been exposed on this farm, which supplies Tomassen Duck-to BV, a Dutch company with links to several sellers in the UK. Dubbed the “Wiesenhof Scandals”, PETA Germany’s exposés uncovered continuous suffering of ducks in horrific living conditions at the farm in 2012.
What You Can Do
PETA Germany has filed a complaint against the farmer in Melle and is calling for this repeat offender to be banned immediately from keeping animals. However, this isn’t an isolated case. Millions of ducks, geese, and other birds are intensively farmed each year for their flesh around the world and in the UK. Like other animals used by the meat industry, they’re kept in miserable, cramped conditions, far removed from their natural habitat, and are killed before they even reach adulthood.
Before considering buying meat, please think about these birds and remember their suffering. You can help spare ducks and other animals similar abuse by ordering PETA’s free vegan starter kit and choosing meals free of cruelty.