Challenge against cruel breeding practices stalls at hearing

Millions of chickens suffer every day on British factory farms.

We believe the breeding practices on these farms and the suffering they cause breach the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007, which states:

'Animals may only be kept for farming purposes if it can reasonably be expected, on the basis of their genotype or phenotype, that they can be kept without any detrimental effect on their health or welfare.'

UK legislation, designed to protect animals from suffering, needs to be followed and respected in order to ensure that animals are not abused for profit. That’s why we launched a judicial review against Defra.

Defra, the defendant in the case, argued that it had no policy which condoned or permitted the use of ‘FrankenChickens’, despite fast-growing breeds being standard use in the chicken industry.

Sadly, the judge has sided with Defra, refusing permission for the case to continue.

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"This is a disappointing day which leaves hundreds of millions of animals in a state of unacceptable suffering. These chickens have been bred to weigh three times as much as they did in the 1950s, and suffer gravely as a result - if the law does not apply to these animals, then who does it protect?”

~ Pru Elliott, Senior Campaigner at The Humane League UK

Chickens raised for meat have been genetically selected over decades to produce as much meat in the shortest possible time. As a result, they can suffer from a wide range of health and welfare issues, including heart attacks, lameness, green muscle disease and white striping.

These animals, bred to grow too big, too fast, have been dubbed “Frankenchickens’ because of their unnatural appearance.

Edie Bowles, Solicitor at Advocates for Animals and representing THL UK in this case, said: “Defra asked the judge to believe they had no policy regarding fast-growing chickens when they accommodate hundreds of millions of them being raised. They also claimed that because not every single fast-growing chicken suffers detriment they can be lawfully kept, even if a significant number will suffer. It is difficult to see who the legal provision is aiming to protect from detriment if not the millions of chickens who are prone to detriment as a result of their selective breeding.”

We’ve been campaigning, alongside other organisations, for companies to commit to stop using breeds of chickens that endure pain and suffering because of their fast growth. Companies like KFC, Nando’s, Greggs, Marks and Spencer and Waitrose are among the 250+ companies in the UK and EU to have committed to change by signing up to the Better Chicken Commitment.

Despite the setback, we're not giving up. The case was rejected on technicalities which our barristers oppose, and believe we have strong grounds to appeal against. We will be submitting an appeal in the next week, challenging the interpretation of the case.

The battle continues to take this important case all the way to the High Court.

You can support our fight to end the abuse of animals used for food using the donate button below.

December 2023 edit: our appeal was upheld. Read about the final result of the case here.