Videos and images from autumn 2022 from the Association Against Animal Factories (VgT) show the terrible treatment of chickens in a Styrian fattening farm through secret video recordings.
Note: This video may contain sensitive content that may be disturbing to some users.
The umbrella organization of the Austrian poultry industry called for an “honest discussion” about the “prevailing constraints and economic conditions in our industry”. The animal protection organization condemned the massive animal cruelty, the rough handling of chickens and scandalous disregard for hygiene, it said on Monday (02/27/23).
Case reported
According to the VgT, the slaughterhouse should bear the AMA seal of quality on its homepage. The AMA promotes “continuous improvement in quality and transparency throughout the entire manufacturing process”. Since in this case it is doubtful “that consumers will see these conditions as 'improved quality'”, the case was reported, says David Richter (VgT).
He further explains: “We cannot simply stand by and watch this thousands of animal suffering in Austria's slaughterhouses - and the Austrian population certainly cannot either. We call on those responsible in business, trade and politics to finally implement improvements. We expect the authorities to carry out a detailed investigation into the grievances.”
The poultry industry is fighting back
“We clearly reject any violations of animal welfare regulations, such a thing should not happen and it will be consistently pursued in this country,” says Michael Wurzer, Managing Director of the Austrian Poultry Industry. “But we reject a hypocritical debate.” It cannot be “that retailers and consumers expect the industry to produce products that are as cheap as possible while at the same time denying that appropriately sized and optimized processes are unavoidable in many areas.” According to him, that is appropriate not together.
Since December 2022, the VgT has been carrying out a “quite professional” campaign against the entire poultry industry, which is “based on large-scale - and in many respects illegal - video surveillance of several domestic businesses in autumn 2022”. Wurzer is of the opinion that these videos are one-sided and only show the negative sides of the industry but “are not representative of the industry or of the companies in question”. This was confirmed by several independent external controls, said Wurzer.
“The most negative scenes are picked out of thousands of hours of illegally produced video material, but this does not meet the generally high standards in our industry. “Our society must ask itself the fundamental question of how we want to eat – what we want to eat and what we are willing and able to spend on it.” From the point of view of the managing director of the Austrian poultry industry, we should talk much more about the future of the poultry industry instead of spreading a “one-sided scandal”.
Animals abused as “cleaning rags” – and thrown against containers
As Richter from VgT reports, the association has now started a petition. He also referred to other grievances in the slaughterhouses, as can be seen in the videos. For example, workers are supposed to throw chickens against containers in order to break the animals' skulls and necks. “In this area, animals are sorted out and thrown away after stunning. Some are probably already dead, others obviously not. The brutal violence that is shown in the treatment of the animals here is unbelievable.” It also happens from time to time that clothes are wiped with the bodies of anesthetized animals - they are used as “cleaning rags” and abused, so to speak. This is not only questionable from a dignity perspective, but also from a hygiene perspective - as is the fact that even dead animals are probably sometimes mixed with the living ones before they are anesthetized.
According to the VgT, a multi-phase carbon dioxide stunning system is used in the slaughterhouse, which is advertised as an “advanced method”. In practice, however, this leads to systematic problems and animal suffering. The chickens are dumped into the system in containers and fall on top of each other, some getting stuck on the flaps. When put under gas, they gasp in panic, shake their heads and flap their wings. Richter explains that these images from the gas stunning facility are difficult to bear and are probably new to the public, hence the big shock.
Demand: “Farmers finally pay decent prices”
Wurzer emphasizes the support of the Austrian poultry industry for a market-adapted implementation of the VgT's demand for a “European broiler initiative”. Around 70 percent of the associated standards have already been met due to the Austrian provisions in the AMA quality seal and the EU's strictest husbandry regulations in force in this country. The only major change is the required use of slow-growing chicken breeds. If retailers go along with this, they will be prepared to implement the concept as quickly as possible after clarifying its practical suitability.
The “Initiative Oekoreich” also criticizes the use of meat as a lure to attract customers and the systematic devaluation of animals and farm work through “extreme actions”. She calls on the trading companies to finally pay farmers fair prices and to stop convincing customers that they can buy a kilogram of chicken meat for three euros. Sebastian Bohrn Mena from the initiative describes “dubious, often self-awarded seals” as a “cheap show” and calls on retailers to live up to their responsibility and stop “pouring more oil on the fire, only to then portray themselves as having put it out.”
Four Paws campaign: “A systematic problem”
The “Four Paws” campaign, led by Veronika Weissenböck, also criticized the newly delivered videos from a Styrian slaughterhouse: “The videos from a Styrian slaughterhouse delivered today by the VgT can no longer be surpassed in terms of horror. This animal cruelty is a systemic problem of industrial animal husbandry that has long since been lost to us. We ask ourselves: Where is the animal protection officer who is legally required to be present at the slaughter? Where is the veterinarian who has to keep an eye on the health of the animals and the slaughter? It is a scandal that the management here obviously already employs completely jaded employees who lack any awareness or empathy towards animals."
Well-trained employees are needed, especially for such a sensitive area of slaughter. The system of industrial meat production is crashing at every turn, and the precarious working conditions create the perfect basis for this, says Weissenböck.
Debate not new
The debate about the conditions in chicken farms and slaughterhouses is not new. There are repeated reports of animal cruelty and hygienic deficiencies in the poultry industry. But despite increasing criticism and public outrage, little has changed so far. The poultry industry often argues with economic constraints and the pressure to deliver cheap products. But animal rights activists and consumers demand that the welfare of the animals and compliance with animal welfare and hygiene regulations must have higher priority than profit.
It remains to be seen whether the current revelations will lead to concrete changes in the poultry industry. But the discussion about animal cruelty and hygiene deficiencies in the meat industry will not die down in the future.
Source:
The press
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