Cornwall Council Refuses Planning Permission For Intensive Chicken Factory

Stoke Climsland – Having received more than 1,200 objections from supporters of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Cornwall Council today refused planning permission for a proposed intensive broiler chicken production facility in Callington, which would have condemned tens of thousands of birds to a life of misery and suffering.

The application, made by Jamie Hatch on behalf of KB Products, would have allowed for 130,000 chickens to be confined to the proposed facility. An online action initiated by PETA warned Cornwall Council’s planning department that, in addition to being a living nightmare for animals, factory farms have a severely detrimental effect on the environment, both locally and nationally. Locally, farm traffic, noise and unpleasant odours can all cause unacceptable disruptions. Furthermore, it is now universally recognised that factory farms are among the main contributors to the greenhouse-gas emissions that cause climate change.

“We’re delighted that Cornwall Council has seen the light – something millions of chickens on factory farms are deprived of”, says PETA UK Associate Director Mimi Bekhechi. “Chickens raised on factory farms rarely – if ever – smell fresh air or feel the sun on their backs until the day they are sent off to slaughter.”

On chicken farms, these inquisitive, highly social birds are forced to spend their lives in sheds that stink of ammonia with tens of thousands of other birds. After enduring the agonising pain of having the ends of their sensitive beaks cut off with an infra-red laser in an attempt to stop the frustrated birds from pecking at each other, chickens are dosed with antibiotics to fight disease and bred to grow so large so fast that many of them become crippled under their own weight and suffer organ failure. Severe crowding and often filthy conditions leave chickens highly susceptible to chronic respiratory diseases. They are killed for their flesh as young as 42 days old, when they reach “slaughter weight”.

A copy of Cornwall Council’s decision can be viewed here.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk. 

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