This morning [21/8/24], Animal Rising released footage from the rescue of two ailing “broiler” chicks from an RSPCA Assured intensive farm.
The chicks, named Peppi and Jade, were taken from Wicklewood Farm, Norfolk by Claudia Penna Rojas and Orin Cooley-Greene earlier this year in order to receive veterinary attention.
One of the chicks was in critical condition due to a heavy parasite burden, and unable to eat properly due an untreated deformed beak. Multiple dead and dying chicks of just a few days old were found scattered through the farm.
The chicks were discovered during Animal Rising’s damning investigation of over 40 randomly selected RSPCA Assured farms, which uncovered systematic suffering and neglect on a wide scale throughout the scheme [1].
Within the farming industry, Cornish Cross chicks (known as “broilers”) have been bred to gain weight rapidly before slaughter at just 6 weeks of age. This selective breeding results in widespread health issues, particularly affecting cardiovascular function, bones and soft tissues. [2]
Animal Rising has continued its call for the RSPCA to drop its “hypocritical” Assured scheme and return to its original values of valuing and protecting all animal life, as per its own “for every kind” campaign.
Claudia Penna Rojas, aged 26, one of the rescuers, said:
“No animals should have to live in the conditions we found Peppi and Jade in. There were dead chicks left lying on the ground and we saw that Peppi was sick and struggling because of her untreated beak deformity. We knew we couldn’t leave her there.
“Now both hens are living with the specialist care they need and will have happy lives. Unfortunately, thousands of hens and chicks within RSPCA Assured farms will not get this care or freedom. Instead they will suffer in factory farms endorsed by an animal welfare charity. The hypocrisy of the scheme is shocking. The RSPCA needs to stop participating in industrial animal cruelty.”
The farm the chicks were rescued from was one of over 40 detailed in an extensive report released on 9/6/24 by Animal Rising [3].
Professor Andrew Knight, Veterinary Professor of Animal Welfare and author of “Routledge Handbook of Animal Welfare”, was consulted in the making of the report and said of the farm in question:
“What appeared to be many hundreds of meat chicken chicks were crowded at very high stocking density, within vast, apparently windowless sheds, which included little to no environmental enrichment. The only enrichment device visible was a plastic bottle, suspended out of reach of the chicks, preventing its use.
“Scattered around the shed floor a large number of chicks were observed collapsed, apparently unable to right themselves or walk, or apparently dying. Others were clearly dead, and apparently beginning to decompose.”
Animal Rising is a social movement to create a new relationship with all beings and give us a chance for a safe ecological future. The group primarily calls for the transition to a secure and sustainable plant-based food system, alongside a mass rewilding programme.
ENDS
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