L214 activists display chicken corpses in Paris to denounce intensive farming

Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credit: BERTRAND GUAY / AFP 9:53 p.m., February 15, 2024

Nearly fifty activists from the animal rights association L214 gathered Thursday morning on the Trocadéro esplanade in Paris to denounce the breeding conditions of chickens sold by the company Le Gaulois. The activists exhibited, for about an hour, 44 chicken corpses, from the chick stage to their placement in trays, to illustrate “44 days of frantic growth”, according to the association.

These corpses came from "a Le Gaulois breeding farm" and "were collected day after day by a whistleblower who had authorized access to the breeding farm", indicated the association. “With this illustration, we can see that we go from a small chick of 50 grams to a chicken of 3 kilos [at the time of slaughter], so it has multiplied its size by 60 in just six weeks. illustrates the madness that is happening on farms,” said Brigitte Gothière, co-founder of L214.

A “denigration” campaign, according to the LDC group

Contacted by AFP, the LDC group which markets Le Gaulois denounced a campaign of “denigration” towards its brand and “misinformation about French breeding”. “This is an affront to the professionalism of all our farmers, of all the employees in our sector, who make this poultry the most virtuous in the world. All the specifications and all the regulations are there,” a- he declared.

L214 asks the brand to stop using “ultra-fast growing” genetic strains bearing the name Ross 308 as well as to “commit to banning the worst breeding practices”. “The Gaul treats his chickens like objects, he produces them as we would produce cars,” estimates Léo Le Ster, campaign manager for L214, for whom this accelerated growth affects the health of chickens.

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The 44 chickens exposed "all died of heart attacks, lung problems, various illnesses, sometimes even some were sickly and could no longer reach the waterers and feeders and who died of starvation or thirst,” he lamented. The association, which aspires to a world without animal exploitation and therefore without meat, seeks to make an impression. “We bring the chickens here to show what it really does, because it’s true that for people who don’t know [this subject] well, it can be very imprecise,” says Pauline Laporte, employee of the association.

“Even if we have been an activist for the animal cause for a long time, we don’t get used to the horror in the end,” adds Hélène, also an employee of the association, who is carrying the corpse of a chicken that died after 36 days . “When they brought me the chicken, I had to hold back tears.” Present on site, host Nagui described the fate of the chickens as “unthinkable”. “It’s very good that this [agrifood] group is making money, I have nothing against them, but we might as well do it with a clear conscience and with respect for the animal, the breeder and the consumer. ", did he declare.