A West Country chicken farm that supplies Faccenda, Lidl and Asda has been the subject of an animal abuse investigation by international animal welfare organisation Animal Equality.
Animal Equality has released footage it claims was filmed over the past two months in the farm, which houses more than 150,000 birds in four sheds.
The footage shows chicks that the group says had been dead for several days, lame birds attempting to walk, as well as workers reportedly “violently catching and crating birds for transport to the slaughterhouse”.
Faccenda told Meat Management that it is taking the issue seriously and is working with the farm to “put it right”, however, it stressed that it did not believe the footage was representative of the standards on that farm.
A spokesperson said: “We’re obviously disappointed with the images that have been presented to us. Our experience of this farm suggests that the footage is not representative of the overall standard of care, however, where there is a need for improvement in specific areas we will work with the farmer to make sure that it happens.
“When we were notified of the allegations we immediately assigned an external vet to visit the farm and conduct an investigation. Following his review of the facilities, and after meeting the team, he approved the farm for continued use. On this basis we have made the decision to recommence activities on the farm, with additional monitoring and ongoing support from our vet to ensure adherence to standards and practices.”
The spokesperson concluded: “We are not going to comment on individual pieces of limited footage but we will make sure that the information from Animal Equality is used on all of our farms to help ensure that our high standards and expectations are maintained on every farm, every day.”
A Lidl spokesperson said: "Lidl UK takes the issue of animal welfare very seriously and we have been in close communication with the supplier on this matter, whilst their investigations are being carried out. All of our fresh British meat and poultry is Red Tractor assured, which clearly outlines expected animal welfare and food hygiene standards.
"We have a code of conduct in place with all of our suppliers, with agreed expectations regarding responsible business practices, which may be audited by an independent third party at any point."
Asda and Defra have not yet commented on the issue.
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
