France Bans Controversial Practice of Live-Shredding Chicks
THE DETAILS: Every year around the world, billions of male chicks in the egg industry are killed by industrial agricultural farmers as they are considered useless by both egg and poultry producers since they do not lay eggs and aren’t the breed used for meat production. The practice of chick culling includes the brutal method of live-shredding, where chicks are ground up alive in a giant, high-speed grinder. Similarly every year, millions of piglets suffer through the horrible procedure of castration without anesthesia to encourage them to grow fatter and prevent a potent smell said to emit from the fatty meat of non-neutered pigs.
A MAJOR VICTORY: Aside from the ghastly process of killing chicks by shredding, many are also gassed, electrocuted, or asphyxiated in plastic bags. With the announcement from France’s Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume, the country will be one of the first to ban the mass culling of chicks using any of these methods, and the castration of piglets without anesthesia. France joins Switzerland and Germany in similarly banning chick shredding, though a German court ruled last year that shredding could continue until a method was found to determine the sex of an embryo in the egg.
WHAT WE’RE SAYING: “This announcement is big news for animals and paves the way for the introduction of similar legislation in other countries. Chick culling is a cruel practice that does not belong in modern and compassionate societies.” says Sharon Núñez, President of Animal Equality.
WHAT COMES NEXT: While we celebrate this tremendous victory for farmed animals in France, the reality is that billions of animals suffer every year in countries around the world, and sadly, the United States remains as one of the countries still using the horrible practice of live-shredding. Your voice and consumer choices are crucial to ending these terrible atrocities. Please share this post and encourage your friends and family to stop using animal products.
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