Animal activists will target a Bristol Morrisons store in protest over the selling of fast-growing so-called 'Frankenchickens, this week. On Wednesday, protesters from the Humane League UK will gather at the supermarket on Peterson Avenue in Hartcliffe at 3pm where they will demand that Morrisons adopt the Better Chicken Commitment.
Protesters will carry placards and banners with images of fast-growing chickens, captioned with the words "Supermarkets sell suffering" and "Beware: This company serves up chicken cruelty". The BCC is a welfare policy that aims to drastically reduce the suffering of chickens raised for meat by providing more space, natural light, enrichment, as well as less painful slaughter methods, third-party auditing and prohibiting the use of fast-growing breeds.
Fast-growing chicken breeds, dubbed 'Frankenchickens' for their unnatural size and growth rate, account for around 90% of the UK's 1.12 billion meat chickens. Activists say they suffer from painful health conditions like heart attacks, lameness, hock burns, ascites and white striping disease at higher rates than slow-growing birds. According to The Humane League UK, more than 300 companies in the restaurant, food service and manufacturing sectors have signed on to the BCC, including outlets like KFC, Greggs, Nando's, Kraft-Heinz, Compass Group and Nestle.
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Cordelia Britton, head of programs at The Humane League UK, said: “Between the time we started campaigning against Morrisons in 2021 and today, millions of chickens have grown up with numerous health problems and broken bodies, living short and miserable lives before being slaughtered on Morrisons’ orders. We will continue to rail against Morrisons until they change their actions or the public ditches their business; it is up to them to decide which they prefer.”
This is not the first time that the group has chosen to target Morrisons stores in the city. In April, a protest took place at the Fishponds branch and consisted of campaigners dressed in Morrisons butcher outfits descending on the retailer to demand the removal of 'Frankenchickens' from its shelves. It coincided with Morrisons-targeted demonstrations in more than 20 towns and cities across the country, despite the firm having continuously defended its record on animal welfare.
A Morrisons spokesperson told Bristol Live: "We care deeply about animal welfare. All our regular chicken is raised to above Red Tractor standards. We are also the only retailer in Europe to ask our fresh chicken suppliers to require chicken to be born into the barn in which it will be raised by 2025. 80% of our fresh chicken meets this standard already. We also actively monitor for any malpractice in our supply chain; we will never tolerate it or look the other way and if we ever find it, we will act swiftly and decisively."
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