ANIMAL LIBERATION QLD
MEDIA RELEASE
MEDIA RELEASE
27/06/08
27/06/08
PUBLIC “DIE-IN” TO SHADOW & SHAME WORLD POULTRY CONGRESS
WEDNESDAY JULY 2nd
11am – 2pm
PUBLIC “DIE-IN”
BRISBANE SQUARE
Andrew Bartlett, former Democrat Senator, to address the public at 12:30pm
THIS EVENT WILL PROVIDE INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC AND HIGHLIGHT THE
TREATMENT OF FACTORY FARMED MEAT CHICKENS THAT WILL NO DOUBT
CONTINUE TO BE CONDONED AND INTENSIFIED BY PRESENTERS AT THE
WORLD POULTRY CONGRESS IN BRISBANE
Animal Liberation Qld will hold a public information stall and stage an eye-catching “die-in” event to
continue in its efforts to inform the public about the truth of factory farmed chickens – the animal welfare
implications, the associated public health and environmental issues surrounding such industries, the
economic implications.
488 million birds in factory farms are raised and killed for chicken flesh in Australia each year. Bred to
grow at three times their natural rate, many are crippled under their own weight. Those who survive
are slaughtered when they are just six weeks old. Today's 'broiler chickens' (those raised for their meat)
are packed by the tens of thousands into massive sheds at 20 birds per square meter. For this six weeks
the shed will not be cleaned and will slowly accumulate with wet faeces, producing ammonia, that can
painfully burn the breasts and feet of those birds trapped inside. Those who are lame and cannot get to
food and water in the pen starve or are culled by having their necks broken.
Birds reaching the age of 42 days will face being sent to slaughter. Catchers’ enter the shed and proceed
to catch 300 - 500 birds per hour and load trucks as quickly as possible. Each bird is grabbed by one
fragile limb, possibly already broken and hung helplessly with up to five other birds in the fist of a
‘catcher’ before being forcibly stuffed into a transport crate along with other birds.
Slaughter: The hen’s head will be drawn through an electrified water bath to stun her unconscious before
an automatic knife cuts her throat. Those who raise their heads and miss the electrified water bath face
exsanguination fully conscious.
Not only is this farming method cruel in the extreme, it is an inefficient and unsustainable way to feed the
world protein. In this system of meat production, as with battery-caged hens, no males are used. All
commercially reared males are killed, usually in mass gassings as chicks.
For the latest report on the wide range of harms done by factory farming, go to
For other international reports on factory farming of chickens, go to www.ciwf.co.uk
Contact: Media spokesperson, Cynthia Burnett, 0412 100 539
NEWS 
