A Humane League demonstration will take place outside the Co-op’s AGM this Saturday, during which members of the mutual will vote on a motion calling to improve chicken welfare.
The demonstrators are urging the supermarket to adopt the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC), a welfare policy deigned by experts to improve the lives of chickens raised for meat.
Companies that adopt the policy commit to replacing fast-growing breeds with healthier, slower-growing birds and give the animals more space, natural light and enrichments.
Headed by Co-operative members from The Humane League UK, the motion comes as the animal charity has said only 2% of Co-op’s chickens raised for meat are reared to higher welfare standards, as opposed to 100% of their laying hens and pigs.
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Fast-growing ‘Frankenchickens’ also now make up around 90% of the chickens sold for meat in the UK.
Having been genetically selected over decades to prioritise fast growth and produce as much meat in the shortest possible time, the chickens can suffer from a wide range of health and welfare issues such as heart attacks, organ failure, lameness, bone deformities, muscle diseases and burns.
“I am very proud that as a Co-op member I will have a say on their future treatment of chickens. What makes our Co-op unique is its democratic and progressive values,” Co-op member and The Humane League UK senior campaigner Aaron Parr said.
“These have historically extended to animal welfare. But the fact that chickens raised for meat, our most farmed animal in the UK, have been left out of Co-op’s purview is a massive oversight.”
He added: “Co-op policy says that we have a “pioneering” approach to animal welfare. But to maintain that badge of honour, our Co-op must improve farming practices and give all chickens better lives.”
