Lidl has been accused of animal cruelty following a covert video filmed by an employee of a chicken farm in Lincolnshire, which is linked to the supermarket. The video shows chickens being repeatedly run over and crushed to death during transport, with workers admitting on camera that it is ‘part of the job’.
Tom Herok, the source of the footage, has spoken out against ‘widespread animal cruelty’ within the UK chicken industry following a High Court dismissal to ban Frankenchicken farming. Animal protection charity Open Cages has filed a criminal complaint against the farm for breaches of The Animal Welfare Act and both The Welfare of Farmed Animals and WATEO (Welfare Of Animals During Transport) Regulations.
The footage has sparked a global meat scandal for Lidl, who are the largest chicken retailer in Europe, as it is the fifth such video to be released in the last few months calling into question the supermarket’s chicken welfare claims. The hashtag #LidlChickenScandal went viral on Twitter, with over 5,000 consumers expressing their outrage.
Tom Herok, a teacher of Philosophy at the University of Lancaster, embedded himself in the UK chicken industry for five months last year in order to investigate the welfare of intensively farmed ‘Frankenchickens’. Speaking about his experience, he said: “There is widespread animal cruelty within the UK chicken industry and retailers are hiding that from us. On numerous farms supplying retailers like Lidl I not only saw animals being carelessly crushed to death. I saw first hand the daily struggle of a Frankenchicken. It was my job to put thousands of them out of their misery.”
Open Cages is campaigning for major retailers like Lidl to sign the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC). TV presenter and animal advocate Chris Packham has branded the footage as ‘disgraceful’ and has also called on Lidl to sign up. The BCC is a set of improved chicken welfare standards backed by the RSPCA and supported by the UK Government. Over 550 companies including M&S, Waitrose, KFC and Lidl France have signed up, but in all other countries Lidl has refused.
In response, Lidl commented: “The farm and supplier in question does not supply Lidl. We take animal welfare extremely seriously and have long been committed to increasing welfare and traceability standards throughout our supply chain.” However, Open Cages have provided evidence linking the farm to Lidl, including internal documents and footage showing chicken meat produced by 2 Sisters on sale in Lidl stores under the ‘Birchwood’ label.
Connor Jackson, Co-founder of Open Cages, said: “Lidl claims to have cut ties with this farm. But that won’t solve the problem. These are the exact, ruthlessly intensive, and poor conditions on practically all Lidl chicken supplier farms because that’s what Lidl demands in its own policies. This will continue behind the scenes until Lidl adopts Better Chicken Commitment standards.”
Lidl is facing a global scandal as allegations of animal cruelty emerge from a chicken farm in Lincolnshire linked to the supermarket. An employee at the farm covertly filmed chickens being run over and crushed to death during transport, with workers admitting on camera that it is ‘part of the job’.
Tom Herok, the source of the footage, has spoken out against ‘widespread animal cruelty’ within the UK chicken industry following a High Court dismissal to ban Frankenchicken farming. Animal protection charity Open Cages has filed a criminal complaint against the farm for breaches of The Animal Welfare Act and both The Welfare of Farmed Animals and WATEO (Welfare Of Animals During Transport) Regulations.
The footage has sparked a global meat scandal for Lidl, the largest chicken retailer in Europe, as it is the fifth such video to be released in the last few months calling into question the supermarket’s chicken welfare claims. The hashtag #LidlChickenScandal went viral on Twitter, with over 5,000 consumers expressing their outrage.
Tom Herok, a teacher of Philosophy at the University of Lancaster, embedded himself in the UK chicken industry for five months last year in order to investigate the welfare of intensively farmed ‘Frankenchickens’. He said: “There is widespread animal cruelty within the UK chicken industry and retailers are hiding that from us. On numerous farms supplying retailers like Lidl I not only saw animals being carelessly crushed to death. I saw first hand the daily struggle of a Frankenchicken. It was my job to put thousands of them out of their misery.”
Open Cages is campaigning for major retailers
Derick is an experienced reporter having held multiple senior roles for large publishers across Europe. Specialist subjects include small business and financial emerging markets.