The High Court has granted the Animal Law Foundation permission to expand its judicial review against Defra to challenge its dilution of law, which allows the previously unlawful handling of chickens by their legs.
The Animal Law Foundation will now go to a hearing where it will argue that the consultation exercise, which paved the way for the change in law, was unfair.
The government had amended the welfare protection under the European Transport Regulation 1/2005, which until recently applied in the UK.
The EU regulation stated that: “It shall be prohibited to… lift or drag the animals by head, ears, horns, legs, tail or fleece, or handle them in such a way as to cause them unnecessary pain or suffering.”
The practice of lifting chickens by the legs is now permitted in the government’s Code of Practice for the Welfare of Laying Hens and Pullets (Laying Hen Code) and the Code of Practice for the Welfare of Meat Chickens and Meat Breeding Chickens (Broiler Code).
The Animal Law Foundation will argue that the consultation exercise should have been fair and must be undertaken when the relevant proposal is still in the early stages.
While the public authority may have a preferred option it must not have made any prejudgement and argued in this case the government had made it clear throughout that its plan was to change the law, it added.
The NGO has also said that the consultation did not allow “intelligent consideration” on various issues, including the welfare detriment to chickens and it did not present enforcement as a solution to the issue of the industry not following the law.
In the consultation, Defra said there was strong evidence that catching chickens upright is better for their welfare, but went on to cite concerns that a transition to upright catching may not be feasible in commercial settings, including citing cost implications.
“This welfare law was in place for the protection of chickens and if the government was able to so clearly ignore it, or even worse, dilute it, it sets an unsettling precedent,” said Morgane Speeckaert, advocacy and communications officer, The Animal Law Foundation. “The government quietly weakened the few rules that exist to protect chickens rather than tackle the enforcement problem.
“When the UK left the European Union, the public was promised higher animal welfare standards as a benefit – now the opposite is happening,” she added. “We are delighted that the judge agrees with us and has granted us permission to proceed.”
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