Because chickens are much smaller than pigs or cows, many
more of them need to be killed to get the same poundage of meat. Comprising 95 percent of the land animals
raised and killed for food in the U.S., chickens also lead some
of the most miserable lives of all farmed animals.
But that’s just the
beginning.
Shockingly, not a
single federal law protects animals during their lives on factory
farms. What’s more, the law that’s supposed to protect animals at the
slaughterhouse, the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, doesn’t extend to birds,
leaving chickens with virtually no protection from abuse.
Countless undercover investigations by Mercy For Animals at
chicken farms have documented workers
violently punching, beating, and stabbing animals, and ripping off their
heads while the birds were still alive and conscious.
See for yourself:
Chickens are incredibly intelligent animals, who are
capable of passing down information from generation to generation and recognizing
more than 100 individual faces, not only of their fellow chickens but also of
humans. They even understand that recently
hidden objects still exist. This is beyond the capability of a
two-year-old child.
Without legislation
to protect these birds, it’s up to companies to implement impactful animal
welfare standards, and up to consumers to do away with products of extreme
animal suffering.
Fortunately, with amazing plant-based products hitting store
shelves all the time, replacing chicken with humane meat-free alternatives has
never been easier!
Click
here for a list of our favorite chicken substitutes.