Holly Spindler
We’re exposing the companies refusing to commit to better chicken welfare
Our Corporate Relations team work relentlessly to both support and challenge companies so that they improve their welfare policies. But some just don’t play ball.
We’ve launched a new campaign and we need your votes! We’re asking YOU to vote for the company you want recognised for its refusal to commit to better welfare.
Each nominee on the list has failed to sign up to the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC). The BCC is an initiative created by leading animal protection groups, including The Humane League UK, to improve the lives of chickens reared for meat.
Make your voice heard for the animals.
Whilst the voting is fun, the issue behind the award certainly isn’t. In the UK alone, there are over one billion chickens raised and killed for food each year. Of these, 95% are reared on factory farms. Not only are these animals living in appalling conditions, they are bred to grow so fast their bodies can’t keep up. They are suffering through pain and unimaginable distress.
By signing up to the Better Chicken Commitment, these companies have the opportunity to provide improved conditions for the chickens that they profit from.
The nominees for this award include restaurants many people would expect better standards from. I think people will be shocked to hear that they are refusing to do what other restaurant chains are doing - refusing to take this important step to combat terrible animal suffering.
Pru Elliott, Head of Campaigns at The Humane League UK
What is the Better Chicken Commitment?
The Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) is a set of standards for improving the lives of chickens raised for meat.
The commitment, already joined by industry leaders such as KFC, Pret a Manger, Nestlé and Marks & Spencer, has key demands, including:
Better breeding
Over the last few decades, rising demand for cheap chicken and drive for profit has led to the breeding of chickens with more and more breast muscle. These birds have been bred to grow too big, too fast and their bodies simply can’t keep up. Crippled under their own weight and suffering from painful and sometimes fatal conditions, this over breeding is a sickening reminder of what happens when profit triumphs over welfare. The Better Chicken Commitment demands the use of breeds of chicken that grow more slowly, meaning less health issues and, therefore, less suffering.
More space
Chickens raised for meat are kept in barns, thousands of birds packed into a single area and left to grow in size. The current minimum space allocation per chicken is shocking, less than an A4 sheet of paper. They don’t have room to stretch their wings or move around freely. The Better Chicken Commitment increases this minimum amount of space to allow the chickens more space to move.
Quality of life
These intelligent birds can spend most of their lives in barns without seeing daylight. With no perches and nothing to peck at or scratch, the chickens are denied their natural behaviours, leading to frustration and intense distress. The Better Chicken Commitment ensures natural light, as well as access to perch space, something to peck and a minimum air quality.
Consideration for welfare until the end
Whilst our mission at The Humane League UK is to end the abuse of animals raised for food, we do recognise that a world with no animal abuse starts with a world with less animal abuse. The Better Chicken Commitment ensures that chickens raised for their meat are slaughtered in a way that limits their suffering as much as possible. This includes using inert gas that renders the animals unconscious before slaughter.
Commitment means commitment
When a company signs up to the Better Chicken Commitment, they must give continual reporting and demonste an ongoing commitment by having third party audits. This way, we know that there will be no drop in standards.
Since the Better Chicken Commitment began, we at The Humane League UK are proud to have had huge success. With the help of our supporters, we’ve persuaded companies to sign up to improved conditions for the birds in their supply chains. And now it’s your turn.
If you haven’t yet voted, let the nominees know that they need to do the right thing, and commit to the Better Chicken Commitment.
