Peta releases video of chickens being kept next to carcasses at poultry farm supplying Nando's
The video shows chickens living in very cramped conditions
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Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has released a video filmed by animal rights campaigners that depicts chickens being kept in extremely confined conditions at a poultry farm among the corpses of dead birds.
Stewkley Farm in Buckinghamshire, which is where the footage was filmed, supplies chickens to Faccenda, the second-largest chicken-processing company in the UK.
Faccenda then sells the meat onto well-known food retailers including Asda, Lidl and Nando’s.
One of the images distributed by the animal welfare charity shows a dead bird that’s lost the majority of its feathers situated close to the live chickens.
Peta also claims that it’s spotted signs of bumblefoot among the chickens, a condition which causes pus-filled abscesses to appear on the feet of birds.
According to the charity, many of the birds have lost their feathers due to stress, inadequate nutrition or injuries sustained from other birds.
“This footage was recorded at a Faccenda farm. Faccenda is the second-largest chicken-processing company in the UK, supplying five of the largest retailers,” a Peta spokesperson said.
“The company claims: ‘All our farms are certified to Red Tractor Farm Assurance standards, or equivalent, and we have zero tolerance attitude toward anything that jeopardises the health and wellbeing of the animals in our care.
“Our birds might not be able to talk but they are still the ones who tell us we’re getting it right.’”
Peta has submitted a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority and the RSPCA in regard to the farm.
“Faccenda Foods is trying to hoodwink compassionate consumers with its glib, baseless nods to animal welfare,” said Peta director Elisa Allen.
“Peta is calling on authorities to hold this company accountable for duping people into thinking otherwise.”
Faccenda has stated that alterations have already been made to the quality of its farms since the footage was filmed 12 months ago.
“All of our farms operate to standards above EU and UK legislation,” a Faccenda spokesperson said.
“They are independently audited and visited on a regular basis by an external vet to monitor bird health and welfare.
“We place high expectations on our people when it comes to looking after birds in their care.”
Nando’s has also spoken out in regard to the issue.
“Animal welfare is as important to us as it is to customers and we work closely with our suppliers to make sure that all our chickens are barn-reared to Red Tractor standards,” a Nando’s spokesperson said.
“All of our chicken suppliers are regularly audited by an independent auditing company and we will only ever source from farms that meet our animal welfare expectations.”
The Independent has reached out to Lidl and Asda for comment.
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