Gaia protests against conditions in McDonald’s chicken farms

Belgian animal welfare organisation Gaia has launched a new campaign targeting the McDonald’s fast food chain for refusing to sign the Better Chicken Commitment agreement.

Other fast food giants such as Burger King, Subway, Domino’s and KFC have already joined the agreement, which aims to improve the living conditions of chickens in meat production.

McDonald’s said that its decision to not sign is based on ecological arguments and environmental considerations, but Gaia director Ann De Greef said that the only real motive for the American fast food giant is to protect its profits.

“McDonald’s ecological arguments don’t hold water,” De Greef said. “It’s opportunistic manipulation and an evasion strategy.”

Called "McDonald's tramples on chicken welfare", the new Gaia campaign features a red shoe belonging to Ronald McDonald that’s depicted trampling chickens, and seeks to highlight animal suffering in the poultry farms that supply chicken meat to McDonalds.

Images and video obtained from an undercover operation at two poultry farms in Brittany, France, show how French poultry farms, suppliers to McDonald’s, fatten chickens in just 42 days.

According to Gaia, this causes an abnormal growth rate that leads to serious health problems, including respiratory problems, tumours and excess mortality.

“Some chickens lie on their backs dying because they can no longer stand upright, others are crippled and can no longer reach their own food or water,” said De Greef.

“What our cameras captured is pure horror. McDonald’s promotes itself as a family-friendly brand, but the reality behind its chicken products is absolute hell.”

De Greef said that McDonald’s refused to adapt its production process to current standards regarding animal suffering in the production of meat products.

Gaia is calling for a review of the production process at both McDonald’s and urges European policymakers to do their bit by tightening up regulations.

Their flier campaign targeted McDonald’s restaurants in Anderlecht, Ans and Burcht near Antwerp, as well as Liège, Leuven, Ghent and Bruges.