CSM: "Time to Crack Down on Chicken Abuse"

The well-respected Christian Science Monitor includes an op-ed in the Monday June 6 edition (pg 9) headed, "Time to Crack Down on Chicken Abuse.' It is by HSUS's Paul Shapiro.

Shapiro reminds readers of the wealth of new information on the intelligence of birds, then discusses their suffering on factory farms and in slaughterhouses.

He writes:
"Among the chickens who face the most abusive conditions are egg-laying hens - the national flock size is roughly 300 million birds. They are typically housed in battery cages that don't allow the animals enough space even to spread their wings. With no opportunity to engage in many of their natural behaviors, including nesting, dust bathing, perching, and foraging, these birds endure lives of daily frustration and suffering.

"Chickens raised for meat - known by the agribusiness industry as "broilers" - are exploited in even greater numbers than laying hens. More than 8 billion of these birds are raised and slaughtered in the US annually, almost all of which have been selectively bred for extremely rapid growth. This forced rapid growth, exacerbated by routine antibiotic use for growth promotion, takes an enormous toll on the birds' welfare.

We also learn, "Chickens raised for food are exempt from both the Animal Welfare Act and the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act. Furthermore, standard agricultural practices used for chickens are exempted from most states' anticruelty statutes."

He suggests that if the poultry will not voluntarily begin acting to improve animal welfare, the government must take action, and recommends While it's now becoming the norm within the scientific realm to recognize these animals' cognitive abilities and their behavioral needs, the birds are still treated as if they were inanimate objects.

If the poultry industry will not voluntarily begin acting to improve animal welfare, the government must take action and recommends:

"Two good first steps would be to phase out the use of battery cages for egg-laying hens and to include poultry under the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act - lending credence to the notion that these birds' suffering is an important issue."

You can read the whole piece on line at:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0606/p09s02-coop.html

It presents a great opportunity for supportive letters to the editor, ideally singing the praises of plant-based diets. The Christian Science Monitor takes letters at: http://csmonitor.com/cgi-bin/encryptmail.pl?ID=CFF0C5E4


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