We are urging the government to enforce the law that prevents chickens from being handled by their legs.

The Problem

During transportation to slaughter, chickens bred for meat and eggs on British farms are often grabbed by the legs, held upside down with several chickens in one hand, and stuffed into crates. 

This cruel practice is evidenced in the recent investigation by Animal Justice Project, with catchers on a farm seemingly grabbing as many as 5 distressed chickens in each hand. 

Handling chickens by their legs results in:

• Broken bones, dislocations, bruising and severe pain
• The inability to breath as chickens lack a diaphragm to keep their organs away from their lungs
• Prolonged and intense stress

Our story 

The Animal Law Foundation’s mission is to build legal frameworks that prevent cruelty and suffering, through ensuring compliance with animal protection law and facilitating the enforcement and intended interpretation of that law. 

The organisation was founded by Edie Bowles, a solicitor with vast experience in animal law, with the goal of applying the laws that exist for the protection of animals. The Animal Law Foundation has since launched several programmes, including taking action against the practice of handling chickens by their legs, a report on the poor enforcement of animal laws for farmed animals in the UK, and calling for official guidance for farmed fish in Scotland.

The case for chickens

We are calling for an end to the illegal and inhumane practice of handling chickens by their legs. Existing legislation (The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order 2006, which transposes Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 from the EU) strictly forbids this harmful practice.

Despite legislation prohibiting the practice, the government’s codes of practice for chickens bred for meat and eggs explicitly reference handling chickens by their legs. These codes are unlawful and the UK government needs to change them.

In addition, The Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) has published an opinion in which they recommend a change to the law to accommodate the common practice of carrying chickens by their legs. This is the first suggestion of diluting EU derived welfare legislation post Brexit. 

We have sent a pre action letter to the UK Government arguing our case and will pursue legal action if the government does not cease its unlawful conduct. 

Calling for change

In addition to The Animal Law Foundation and The Humane League UK, 15 organisations have signed our letter to the Animal Welfare Committee to demonstrate support for the current law as well as opposition to the suggestion of removing this vital protection. 

Our legal initiative has received compelling coverage in The Guardian and The Grocer and has been shared by Diane Morgan and Dr. Amir Khan. 

We need your help!

We are initially looking to raise £5,000 to help pay for the initial steps needed to start the legal proceedings against the UK government.

Your support is vital to ensure the laws in place for the protection of chickens are enforced.