Animal suffering: a new video from L214 denounces the "poultry collectors"

“We make sort of bouquets of poultry, we collect four or five in our hands.

When you lift them up, you hear their legs break, you hear them scream, ”describes a distorted voice as hidden camera footage of dozens of chickens seized at hellish pace and violently stuffed into plastic crates scroll.

These scenes were shot in September in Yonne, in a breeding farm owned by the Duc company.

The company, one of the leaders in the sector in France, did not respond to our request for an interview.

The latest shock video from the animal rights association L214 delivers the anonymous testimony of a "poultry collector", a little-known profession.

Before sending the animals to the slaughterhouse, brigades - mainly sub-contractors, who work at night - capture an impressive number of birds in huge hangars.

More than 20,000 animals in less than 4 hours during the mission recorded by the cameras of L214.

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“We can see the appalling conditions, both for the animals and for the employees,” insists Brigitte Gothière, co-founder of L214.

Manual pickup causes dislocated legs and wings, fractures, hemorrhages or other injuries.

These genetically selected broilers grow so quickly that their bones are weakened.

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"These practices are not illegal, nor are they exceptional"

An entrepreneur specializing in poultry capture in the West defends his “job”: “When you work well, it's not that violent.

But some teams do anything, they drop dozens of chickens directly from the top of the trucks 6-7 meters from the ground and leave 8-10% of seizures (

) ”.

He also denounces the breeders who do not think of the animals "and charge at 5 pm in a heat wave when the chickens will stay for long hours in the truck which heats up to I do not know how much", he annoys.

Once is not customary, L214 does not load the boat of the filmed industrialist.

“These practices are not illegal, nor exceptional, analyzes Brigitte Gothière.

More than 80% of chickens are raised in these conditions in France.

We are talking about 800 million chickens all the same.

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PODCAST.

Behind the scenes of L214

So L214 is launching at the same time as this shocking testimony a petition to demand that producers commit to the European Chicken Commitment, a coalition with specifications for animal welfare that are stricter than what European regulations impose.

"This would limit the damage inflicted on chickens and employees at the same time", pleads Brigitte Gothière.

All the players in mass distribution and large groups, including Fleury Michon, Accor Hotels, and Paul bakeries have already joined this approach.