Deceber 5, 2003

Defra Won Case On Restricting Feed of Broiler Breeder Chickens
 

Defra has won the Judicial Review in the High Court brought by Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), where its interpretation of the EU Directive on the Protection of Animals kept for Farming was tested. The Court ruled that it is not unlawful to restrict the feed of broiler breeder chickens.

The strong defence, with assistance from British Poultry Council, was improved by CIWF dropping all health and welfare aspects of fast growing broiler chickens from its case and focusing only on breeders. It claims that restrictive feeding of broiler breeders is in contravention of the Directive, but Defra argued that it is in the best welfare interests of the birds.

The judge Mr Justice Newman mused that the Directive appeared to place the requirements in the context of welfare and commercial factors, which could provide for some balancing in its interpretation. He too considered the breeders' nutritional needs tallies with the Directive required.

The second challenge was that the obligation has been transferred to the owner or keeper of the birds to ensure their welfare. Defra's interpretation is that it is not necessary to transpose the Directive word for word and the obligation must be within the power of the owner or keeper. The judge disagree with CIWF.

Not content with attacking the modern broiler chicken industry in court, CIWF was also one of 400 exhibitors at the BBC Good Food Show, NEC, Birmingham, last month. Unlike the others it was not there "to sell wares but to educate the British consumer about the tragic realities of low-cost, factory-farmed chicken," it stated.

Such misleading propaganda deserved to be no more successful than the court case.  

Smarting from losing this case and ordered to pay two-thirds of Defra's costs, CIWF now says that it will be lobbying vigorously for the forthcoming EU Directive on broiler welfare to ban the use of fast growing chickens.

It seems strange to try and stop the use of the very birds used worldwide that the new Directive will set out to protect.