Why are chickens not protected by a single federal law?

Question

Chickens which are sent to slaughterhouses are mistreated and still fully concsious when they are being cut by the throat. This is nothing, slaughterers bang live chickens against the walls, with music on, they kick them around and then laugh about it. Just take a look at this shocking video:

http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/video.asp?video=pilgrims_web&Player=wm&speed=_med

Do you think it's right?

http://www.goveg.com/factoryFarming_chickens_trans.asp

Answer 1

I think we should treat all animals as humanely as possible.

But I also eat meat, and support necessary animal testing.

I think some animal-rights groups use terroristic tactics against HUMANS, and should be rooted out like the terrorists we are fighting abroad. Among other things, they hurt their own cause. People who otherwise might be convinced by rational arguments instead switch off and ignore PETA and other groups, and just focus on the violence. The activists' adversaries manipulate them into destroying the credibility of ALL of them. (Some of the other answers prove my point.)

Didn't Martin Luther King teach us anything about non-violent protest? Did he take a bullet in the neck for nothing? I sure hope not!

Answer 2

It's extremely extremely sad. Screw people who do not see what PETA does...It's amazing how people try to kick on those who are trying to do something about injustice to animals. Personally after I have seen the reports of what they do to chickens, I have stopped eating chicken. I only hope to God that he does not allow them to actually feel the pain and that these people will get what they deserve for complitely disrespecting God's creatures.

Answer 3

The chickens outnumber the human population on this planet. You would think they would have a strong lobby in congress. It is their own fault for failing to organize and appoint leaders that has led to their unjust treatment.

Answer 4

Don't worry about the chickens...They belong to God and anyone who wantonly abuses them will be punished by God. We have to be humane but they are still for food as are all the animals and fish and fruits and vegetables.. they are all in subjection to humans.

Answer 5

Each year in the United States, more than 8 billion chickens are raised and killed in the horrific conditions documented during COK's investigation.

Their suffering is immense, but we can help them and make a real difference for these sensitive and intelligent—yet so abused—animals.

1. The best way to help end the abuse of broiler chickens is not to eat them.
Although we have no nutritional need for meat, our taste for their flesh necessarily causes the suffering and misery of billions of animals.

The vast majority of chicken meat we find in grocery stores and restaurants comes from “broiler” chickens intensively confined on “factory farms.” Each year in the United States, more than 8 billion chickens are raised on these farms. These chickens suffer both acute and chronic pain due to selective breeding, confinement, transportation, and slaughter.

In the 1950s, it took 84 days to raise a five-pound chicken. Due to selective breeding and growth-promoting drugs, it now takes only 45 days. Such fast growth causes chickens to suffer from a number of chronic health problems, including leg disorders and heart disease. According to one study, 90 percent of broilers had detectable leg problems, while 26 percent suffered chronic pain as a result of bone disease. Two researchers in The Veterinary Record report, “We consider that birds might have been bred to grow so fast that they are on the verge of structural collapse.” Industry journal Feedstuffs reports, “[B]roilers now grow so rapidly that the heart and lungs are not developed well enough to support the remainder of the body, resulting in congestive heart failure and tremendous death losses.”

Broiler chickens are confined in long warehouses, called “grower houses,” that typically house up to 20,000 chickens in a single shed at a density of only 130 square inches of space per bird. Such stocking densities make it impossible for most birds to carry out normal behaviors and cause the chickens to suffer from stress and disease. As two industry researchers write, “[L]imiting the floor space gives poorer results on a bird basis, yet the question has always been and continues to be: What is the least amount of floor space necessary per bird to produce the greatest return on investment.”

After the industry average of 45 days in the grower shed, chickens are transported to slaughter without food, water, or shelter from extreme temperatures. At the slaughter plant, the chickens are dumped onto conveyors and hung upside down in shackles by their legs. In the United States, there is no legal requirement that chickens be made unconscious before they are slaughtered. Birds have their throats cut by hand or machine. As slaughter lines run at speeds of up to 8,400 chickens per hour, mistakes are common and many birds are still conscious as they enter tanks of scalding water.

Standard industry practices cause chickens to experience both acute and chronic pain. The treatment of these animals would be illegal if anti-cruelty laws applied to farmed animals. But, profits have taken priority over animal welfare. As one industry journal asked, “Is it more profitable to grow the biggest bird and have increased mortality due to heart attacks, ascites, and leg problems, or should birds be grown slower so that birds are smaller, but have fewer heart, lung and skeletal problems? A large portion of growers’ pay is based on the pound of saleable meat produced, so simple calculations suggest that it is better to get the weight and ignore the mortality.”

Answer 6

Screw PETA. I don't give a fart how they die as long as they are yummy on my plate.

Go ask PETA about why they murder thousands of pets every year.

Answer 7

I liked where you were going with this, but once I saw the Peta link, well..

you are ******* insane

Answer 8

PETA IS CRAZY. YOU LIKE YOUR MCNUGGETS DON'T YOU. IT'S AS RIGHT AS IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN.

Answer 9

because they are chickens