We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve the lives of chickens raised for food in the UK.
Tomorrow, The Humane League UK (THL UK) will be heading to the High Court to challenge the legality of fast-growing breeds of chicken- Frankenchickens. At stake are the lives of one billion animals.
Our small team will be demonstrating outside the courts tomorrow morning. Inside, our legal team, Advocates for Animals, will be arguing that farming Frankenchickens breaches the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007.
We are up against huge opposition with The Government, the British Poultry Council, and the National Farmers’ Union representing the interests of the £3 billion poultry industry. This really is a David versus Goliath case.
If you are interested in the legal intricacies of the hearing itself, you can watch a livestream of proceedings here on both Wednesday and Thursday. You can also watch a recording afterward following the same link.
Frankenchickens
‘Frankenchickens’ are selectively bred to grow unnaturally big and fast to maximise profits. They are destined to suffer extremely short and painful lives, suffer heart attacks, are often unable to walk and succumb to open sores from lying in their own waste. They grow 400% faster than is natural for their bodies, creating the biggest animal welfare crisis of our time.
In the UK alone, there are over 1 billion chickens raised for meat and over 90% are fast-growing.
THL UK's three-year legal battle
In 2020, we saw an opportunity to challenge the legality of Frankenchickens and began building a legal case against the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra).
This culminated in a judicial review taking place at the High Court in May 2023. Getting to this point was a major success in itself as only 5% of cases are granted a full hearing. The judge stated that a full hearing of the facts regarding fast-growing chickens was in the public interest.
Represented by Advocates for Animals, we argued that fast-growing chicken breeds, known as Frankenchickens, are illegal under current animal welfare laws, as they suffer as a direct result of their breeding. Our case was bolstered by evidence given by the RSPCA which shows that fast-growing breeds of chicken do suffer, no matter the environment they’re raised in. This was despite Defra attempting to block the submission of the RSPCA’s evidence.
The fight continues
In May 2023, the High Court ruled that Defra hadn’t behaved unlawfully in their interpretation of the Welfare of Farmed Animals Regulation of 2007.
Shortly after the ruling we decided to appeal the court’s decision and continue our three-year legal battle.
There is overwhelming scientific consensus that chickens raised for meat suffer due to their breed. Defra itself has offered no evidence to contradict the RSPCA report and even accepted that there are welfare problems with fast-growing breeds of chicken.
In October 2023, we found out that our appeal had been granted.
We will be back in court tomorrow, in front of a new judge, to take on Defra to end the cruel use of Frankenchickens in the UK. Our court hearing is due to take place over two days, Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th October.
This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to force the Government, with one decision from an appeals court judge, to transform one billion innocent lives per year.
Our chances of success
By virtue of being granted an appeal, our chances for a favourable final outcome have increased significantly. Being granted an appeal means that serious problems with the previous judge’s findings have been uncovered, and the judge approving our appeal thinks our case still has merit that needs final and careful deliberation.
A positive ruling would mean that the judge found Defra's interpretation of the Welfare of Farmed Animals Regulation of 2007 illegal, and would compel them to create a new policy on fast-growing breeds of chicken, one that would invariably lead to farmers being disincentivized or even banned from keeping fast-growing birds. Essentially, Defra would be forced by the courts to move against the use of fast-growing breeds. What that looks like in terms of actual policy implementation would become clear in due course after the hearing.
Whilst we are confident that we have the facts to support our case and win, even if we don’t win, we have another opportunity to continue the debate and discussion about Frankenchickens in the public arena, to raise further awareness and garner more support as we continue to work toward a more compassionate world without fast-growing breeds of chicken.
During our previous court hearing, we secured more broadcast media coverage in the two days of the case than we did in the previous 12 months, sparking a national conversation about the cruelty of breeding Frankenchickens and making it the single biggest media impact of any action since our inception, with a potential reach of over 350 million people.
Support The Humane League UK
Should you wish to donate to The Humane League UK, or learn more about our work, then please contact me directly:
- Molly Archer-Zeff, Major Gifts Coordinator, THL UK
- marcherzeff@thehumaneleague.org.uk
The Humane League UK
The Humane League UK is a UK registered charity working to end the abuse of animals raised for food.
Whilst we’re still a fairly young organisation, we have already achieved some big wins for the animals. This is one of the reasons why we, as part of THL, are recommended by Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) as one of the most effective animal protection organisations in the world.
THL is the only organisation to have been recommended every year in the history of ACE’s reviews. Their continued endorsement underscores our effectiveness and commitment to creating a better world for animals. They have evaluated us to be an ‘exceptional’ example of effective advocacy:
‘Giving to THL is an excellent opportunity to support initiatives that create the most positive change for animals.’
This is one of the most exciting things I've seen on the forum all year, amazing work.
It also re-affirms for me that court cases can be one of the most effective ways to both make progress and raise awareness. Many climate wins in the last few years have been through the law.
On that note apropros of everything while also being completely off topic...
...Can someone please sue Open AI?
This seems like a great campaign with a chance of raising awareness at least or leading to legal changes if it succeeds - and I hope you get a good result at the trial. I had a question about something else the Humane League was involved in, though, which is that in this article the League was mentioned in the issue of Defra's policy on chickens being carried by their feet was described as a new Labour policy decision, but in this article discussing the issue a few months ago, also mentioning the League, it was presented as a decision by the Conservative government. It seems like they can't both have created this policy - so is it true that both major parties in the UK are against basic animal rights, or is this previous decision more nuanced than that?
Executive summary: The Humane League UK is challenging the legality of fast-growing chicken breeds ("Frankenchickens") in the UK High Court, aiming to improve the lives of one billion chickens raised for food annually.
Key points:
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