Launching a petition to END preprogrammed suffering in broiler chickens in Switzerland

By Zoe Newton @ 2024-09-02T06:58 (+55)

Sentience - famously known for its initiative to abolish factory farming - just launched a new petition targeting two major Swiss retailers, Coop and Migros.

Together, Coop and Migros hold a market share close to 80% in Switzerland. They bear a critical responsibility for the development of the poultry industry in the country.

The Swiss poultry industry in two key figures:

85 million farmed animals are slaughtered annually in Switzerland. In 2023, chickens accounted for 83 million of these animals.
92% of these chickens come from fast-growing breeds (which are genetically preprogrammed to suffer)

In practice, Sentience is asking retailers to:

1) Adopt slower-growing chicken breeds, which show greater health and welfare outcomes (and cease using fast-growing strains by 2026).
2) Stop promoting problematic products by the end of 2024, this includes advertising and campaigns for products from intensive chicken farming.
3) Provide transparent reporting on the selection of chicken breeds used. Sentience also calls for the development and publication of a strategy detailing how Coop and Migros’ entire supply chains will meet the criteria of the European Chicken Commitment by 2026.
4) Establish regular exchanges with animal welfare organisations. This includes meetings for dialogue, as well as the implementation of a feedback mechanism through which these organisations can express their concerns about animal welfare practices.

On top of being a call to action, Sentience’s petition is a strategic push to shift the Swiss poultry industry towards more ethical and sustainable practices. It is a high-leverage opportunity to have a significant impact for animal welfare. By targeting the two largest retailers in the country, we aim to leverage their influence to catalyse change across the entire supply chain.

Holding Coop and Migros accountable, as well as driving them to set new standards for the welfare of chickens, could reverberate far beyond Switzerland’s borders.

Join Sentience in this vital campaign to reshape the future of poultry farming and, more broadly, the treatment of animals in our food systems.

You can find the petition here:
https://sentience.ch/en/project/end-preprogrammed-suffering/

Vasco Grilo🔸 @ 2024-09-07T08:52 (+2)

Thanks for the post, Zoe!

1) Adopt slower-growing chicken breeds, which show greater health and welfare outcomes (and cease using fast-growing strains by 2026).

Do you know how the relative reduction in the suffering per living time compares with the relative reduction in the growth rate? The total suffering is proportional to former, but inversely proportional to the latter. For example, if the suffering per time is halved, but so is the growth rate, there would be no change in the overall suffering (because there would need to be 2 times as many chickens). So it is important that the reduction in the suffering per living time exceeds the reduction in the growth rate.

Based on data from the Welfare Footprint Project, and some guesses from me, I estimate going from a conventional to a reformed scenario results in a reduction in the suffering per living time of 69.5 % (= (-1.52 - (-4.99))/(-(-4.99))), an increase in the number of broilers of 25.2 % (= 1.34*10^3/(1.07*10^3) - 1), and therefore in a reduction in the overall suffering of 59.2 % (= 1 - (1 - 0.695)/(1 - 0.252)). So I assume your ask will also reduce overall suffering, but it is worth having these dynamics in mind for breed selection.

Changing to a slower growing breed may be good even if it results in an increase in the overall suffering nearterm. Subsequent changes to higher welfare breeds could render the lives of broilers net positive, in which case having a slower growing breed would increase welfare via leading to a larger population.