We can’t let high court blow stop the fight for billions of chickens to have a life worth living

By Emma Slawinski - Director of Policy, Prevention and Campaigns

The results of today’s judicial review, which found that the suffering of fast growing chickens - dubbed ‘Frankenchickens’ - is legal, is incredibly disappointing. This judicial review had the capacity to make the single biggest change for animal welfare in this country at a stroke. The sheer scale and volume of the suffering experienced by broiler chickens means that this is the biggest animal welfare issue facing this country. We are determined to continue to campaign for better lives for these animals, through the Better Chicken Commitment, and our wider goal to end intensive farming for good.

The intensive production of fast-growing broiler chickens - birds reared for meat - is a symbol of our broken relationship with both animals and our food system. Ninety per cent of the broiler chickens in this country are fast growing, genetically selected to produce the maximum possible meat in the shortest time and at the cheapest price.

Our 2020 report Eat, Sit, Suffer, Repeat revealed the shocking mental and physical suffering these animals go through in their short lives - and set the scene for a future legal challenge. Fast growing chickens grow so quickly that they struggle to walk around properly and suffer from heart heart defects. If a newborn baby grew as fast as your average supermarket chicken by her third birthday she would weigh 28 stone. They are prone to lameness and early death. Intensively farmed chickens don’t need to be given natural light and have barely enough space to move, or flap their wings freely. They are kept in barren environments with nothing to perch on or peck at leading to boredom and stress. Our report concluded that many of these birds do not have a life worth living.

This is the biggest welfare issue facing our country. Not just by the depth of the suffering but the sheer numbers involved, with around a billion slaughtered in this country each year and? 97 million chickens on farms at any given time in the UK, compared to 20 million cats and dogs. But, unlike issues which affect the pets which share our homes, our production system obscures the extent of the suffering of these birds, meaning many of us simply don’t understand the reality of the lives of the vast majority of chickens who end up on our plates.

This judicial review was a first step to address this broken food system but there is so much more we, as a society, need to do to create a more compassionate food system which is kinder to animals, the planet, and better protects people. The RSPCA is campaigning for an end to factory farming and, as a first step, would like to see more than half of all animals farmed to higher welfare standards, like RSPCA Assured, by 2030.?

We also want to see mandatory labelling of animal products on our supermarket shelves to ensure consumers know how the animals lived and make an informed decision about what they buy. And we are campaigning, with our partners at RSPCA Assured, for people to Eat Less, Eat Better - to reduce the amount of animal products they consume overall and, when they do choose to eat them, to choose higher welfare.

And retailers can and must make it easier for consumers. Marks and Spencer is leading the way as the only retailer to insist on 100% RSPCA Assured across all of their fresh chicken, milk, pork, eggs and farmed salmon and trout. It’s a landmark achievement, which we hope will encourage other retailers to follow.

This week, we heard Henry Dimbleby and Jemima Lewis talk about Henry’s new book Ravenous: How to get ourselves and the planet into shape at an event at the Chelsea Flower Show, where the RSPCA has a sanctuary garden. His book explores how we need to fix our food system to save our health and the planet. But governments need to listen. The Food Strategy last year rejected Henry’s call to reduce meat consumption by 30% but the Government potentially took a step forward at last week’s food summit re-committing to protecting our animal welfare standards when making trade deals. We now need to see these words turned into action.

Tomorrow?we will see the first in a series of three reports, carried out by the Social Market Foundation, and sponsored by the RSPCA looking into Alternative Proteins and the role they have to play in improving animal welfare in our farming system. We must explore how we can be innovative and radical in changing the way we farm and feed ourselves.

Today was a setback for animal welfare and an important opportunity to transform the way we care for farm animals was missed. We have to keep pushing to raise awareness for consumers, retailers and the Government about the link between the welfare of the animals we farm, our environment and our own futures. We will continue to campaign for a compassionate and sustainable farming system which protects animals, the planet and ourselves.