Welfare of Chickens - Europe Fails
The Conservative Animal Welfare Group has today condemned as "a grotesquely missed opportunity" the failure of the European Union to agree a directive to protect the welfare of broiler chickens.
In a statement issued this morning CAWG says:
"It`s clear that the talks were effectively wrecked by those countries with more interest in propping up failing agricultural systems than in welfare.
While our own standards are not as high as we would wish, we do at least have minimum cage and space sizes for the rearing of birds for the table (broiler chickens) and we would have wished to see at least that minimum adopted Europe-wide.
We have always said that we do not wish to see our own farmers disadvantaged and that we seek Europe-wide solutions to welfare issues.
If Europe is unable or unwilling to reach responsible welfare agreements then we feel that other measures will have to be taken.
We would like to explore the possibility, within European trade law, of a ban on the importing of all animal products produced under welfare conditions that would not be permitted in the United Kingdom.
We would like our own retailers - and most particularly those supermarkets with massive buying power - to immediately refuse to stock animal products produced under inhumane conditions.
And we would urge every member of the shopping public to refuse to buy "cruelty products" from wherever they may have been sourced and to demand that retailers state clearly whether a product is "cruelty-free" and British or "cruelty intensive" and “imported." (Ends)
CONTACT: Roger Baker MRCVS – 01227 264713
Roger Gale MP – 07623 978479
