The Government Accountability Project (GAP), champion of whistleblowers against government and corporate corruption, announced Friday that they will be representing Craig Watts, a Perdue contract chicken farmer.
Watts recently made public allegations involving questionable treatment and labeling practices as related to chickens on his farm. Risking his livelihood, Watts made the important disclosures, including video proof of the appalling conditions under which the chickens are kept.
Watts is the owner of C&A farms in Fairmont, North Carolina. He has been raising chickens for Perdue since 1992. However, he recently became appalled that Perdue were labeling the chickens as being “humanely raised” and “cage free.” The chickens are kept crammed in one huge warehouse, in their own filth, with no natural light, so the “cage free” allegation very loosely applies, but the birds are far from being “humanely raised.”
Watts invited members of the animal welfare group, Compassion in World Farming, to visit the farm and witness the truth of the conditions under which the chickens are kept. They made the video, included at the end of this article, releasing it this week.
GAP works closely with organizations such as the Food Integrity Campaign, and works to protect and empower honest workers like Watts, revealing the truth about animal welfare, threats to food safety, environmental health and worker rights.
For its part, the Food Integrity Campaign represents whistleblowers using a multi-faceted approach, offering free or reduced cost legal services. The group also advocates for stronger protection of whistleblowers as well as giving them a platform on which to share their concerns with the public, using the media, video and other communication methods. They also provide educational resources to advise the general public and encourage citizen involvement in securing food integrity.
The video can be seen below and may upset sensitive viewers. It shows that 30,000 chickens are kept together under one roof and that among those chickens it is normal for around 1,000 to die in each flock due to illness, genetic problems or other issues. The video goes on to explain that Watts has no control over the health or genetics of the chicks delivered to him by Perdue. Under the contract with Perdue, Watts is not even allowed to give the chickens sunshine or fresh air.
A mere 37 days after arrival at the farm, the chickens comprise a sea of panting birds, overheated in their crushed environment. Due to their genetics, the birds can barely stand, with the unnatural weight of their breasts, and with the leg problems caused by this. They spend most of their short lives lying in their own accumulated filth, piled on top of other chickens’ feces, which causes health problems, infections, leaves their breasts raw and bleeding and with almost no feathers.
There is nothing natural or in any way humane about the way these chickens barely exist in this environment. The layer of feces in their environment is, apparently, never cleaned out, even between flocks.
In a quote to the media, Amanda Hitt, Director of GAP’s Food Integrity Campaign said:
"This is about the public's right to know and whistleblowers' right to tell. The reality is that consumers simply could not stand the sight of what happens on industrial farms. It takes brave truth-tellers like Craig Watts to let the public know what's really going on behind the closed barn doors. He's risked a lot coming forward, and GAP's Food Integrity Campaign is committed to standing by him if Perdue retaliates."
Photos: Screen grabs from the Compassion in World Farming video
No comments:
Post a Comment