Morrisons have spoken out after posters allegedly claiming to show the "truth behind Morrisons' marketing" have appeared in Leeds.
The posters dotted around the city show an image of a “dirty, immobile chicken sitting in waste” taken at a farm allegedly supplying the supermarket chain.
This is part of a campaign launched by The Humane League UK, Open Cages, and Animal Equality UK.
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The charity which campaigns to end animal cruelty has slammed the supermarket and claims that it is "profiting from raising fast-growing chickens in filthy, crowded and painful conditions."
They have dubbed these breeds of chickens as “frankenchickens” due to their unnatural size and growth rate.
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However, a spokesperson for Morrisons has stated they care about animal welfare and they are "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.”
Senior Campaigner at The Humane League UK, Pru Elliot is calling for Morrisons and other supermarkets to ditch these breeds and sign the Better Chicken Commitment.
Ms Elliot said: “Morrisons likes to portray itself as a wholesome company, whose uplifting adverts boast about the quality of its farmers and produce. However, their glossy marketing serves to hide the truth - that Morrisons profits from raising fast-growing chickens in filthy, crowded and painful conditions.”
The posters were put in Leeds as it has the most Morrisons stores in the country, joint with Manchester with 15 stores in total and the city is close to their headquarters in Bradford.
The animal charity claims the pictures were taken in East Anglian chicken farms which supply Morrisons in May and June 2020 where they found birds deformed and collapsing into their own waste.
They added many struggling or unable to walk and suffering from severe feather loss with many corpses rotting in the barn.
A spokesperson for Morrisons also stated “We will never tolerate or look the other way” if malpractice was found in their supply chains.
In a statement, they said: "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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