Thousands Join PETA in Opposing North Yorkshire Chicken Prison
Thousands Join PETA in Opposing North Yorkshire Chicken Prison
North Yorkshire – A planning proposal has been submitted to North Yorkshire Council for a chicken mega farm in Melmerby that, if granted, would condemn nearly 360,000 gentle birds at a time to a life of misery. 2.7 million individuals would be sent to their deaths each year from this farm. In response, PETA sent a petition signed by 18,000 local residents and other concerned members of the public, urging North Yorkshire Council to reject the plan.
In the petition, PETA points out that in addition to causing cruelty to animals on a massive scale, the planned farm would have many negative effects on the local area, including generating enormous quantities of manure and environmental pollutants, such as ammonia.
“Thousands of compassionate people have spoken, and North Yorkshire Council must heed the concerns of its constituents and the general public over animal suffering, the environment, and the health of the community,” says PETA Senior Campaigns Manager Kate Werner. “PETA is calling for this plan to be scrapped to spare birds from a lifetime of suffering and a terrifying death.”
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” – notes that chickens are just like us. Social and sensitive individuals who love their families and value their lives. When raised for their flesh on factory farms, they are fed antibiotics, perpetuating antimicrobial resistance, and bred to grow so large so quickly that their legs often collapse under their own bodyweight. At abattoirs, they’re shackled upside down, their throats are slit, and they’re scalded in defeathering tanks – sometimes while still conscious.
The group further notes that cramming stressed animals together on farms like the one proposed creates not only a living hell for animals but also a breeding ground for infectious diseases, as evidenced by the recent bird flu outbreak in the area. Confining animals on faeces-ridden farms, transporting them in filthy lorries, and slaughtering them on killing floors soaked with blood, urine, and other bodily fluids can cause deadly pathogens to emerge that can spread from animals to humans.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” – points out that when it comes to the ability to feel pain, hunger, and thirst, a bull is a dog is a boy. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow PETA on Facebook, X, TikTok, or Instagram.
Contact:
Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]
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