Thousands Join PETA in Opposing Anglesey Chicken Prison
For Immediate Release:
27 July 2020
Contact:
Sascha Camilli +44 (0) 20 7923 6244; [email protected]
Thousands Join PETA in Opposing Anglesey Chicken Prison
Over 18,000 Compassionate People Agree: Authorities Should Stand With the Public and Block Farm Proposal
Anglesey – A proposal has been submitted for a “free-range”an egg farm in Anglesey that would condemn 32,000 gentle birds at a time to a life of misery and inevitable slaughter. In response, PETA has sent a petition with over 18,000 signatures from local residents and other concerned members of the public urging Isle of Anglesey County Council to reject the plan. The applicant claims the facility would be “”free-range””, but PETA exposés of UK farms have shown that such labels, while making consumers feel better about purchasing eggs, don’t prevent chickens from suffering.
In the petition, PETA points out that, in addition to causing cruelty to animals on a massive scale, the planned farm would likely have many negative effects on the local area, including the erection of buildings on the site – which would likely compromise the character of the landscape – increased traffic from heavy goods vehicles, and the generation of enormous quantities of manure and environmental pollutants such as ammonia.
“”Thousands of compassionate people have spoken, and Isle of Anglesey County Council should heed their concerns for animal welfare, the environment, and the health of the community,”” says PETA Director Elisa Allen. “”PETA is calling for this plan to be scrapped, sparing thousands of birds a lifetime of suffering and an agonising death.””
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “”animals are not ours to eat”” – notes that chickens are curious, active animals who, in nature, spend their time foraging, exploring, and taking dust baths. But on farms, even “”free-range”” or “”organic”” ones, they’re often prevented from engaging in these natural forms of behaviour. And when their worn-out bodies can no longer produce enough eggs to be profitable, they’re sent to slaughter, typically to be turned into “”low-grade”” meat.
The group further notes that not only is factory farming not only is a living hell for animals, it but also creates a perfect breeding grounds for infectious diseases. When animals are crammed together on crowded, faeces-ridden farms, transported in filthy lorries, and slaughtered on killing floors soaked with blood, urine, and other bodily fluids, deadly pathogens emerge and can spread from animals to humans. Taking into account the negative impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on our society, it’s imperative that intensive factory farms such as this one are no longer built in the UK.
Salmonella and E coli are common on intensive farms, and birds’ high stress levels make them more susceptible to campylobacter infection – the leading cause of infectious intestinal disease in the West – which is easily passed to humans in chicken flesh.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.
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