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Thousands of chickens baked to death in the heatwave at an intensive Red Tractor-endorsed farm that supplies major supermarkets including Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
Temperatures soared in Britain last week, with records highs of over 38C being recorded. Whilst many enjoyed the warm weather, farmed animals were left vulnerable thanks to the extreme conditions.
Distressingly, thousands of chickens baked to death in the barns at an intensive Red Tractor-endorsed farm that supplies major supermarkets including Tesco and Sainsbury’s – Lincolnshire-based Moy Park.
Speaking to the The Lincolnite, workers at Moy Park farm in Newton on Trent said: “We tried to do everything but there was nothing more we could do. The freak weather has done this to them. Please don’t turn this into anything bad.
“It has been really tough carting these animals out of the farm over the past couple of days. Animal activists don’t think that we care about them, but we really do.”
Philip Lymbery, chief executive of Compassion in World Farming, tweeted: “This is beyond words. They must have suffered terribly. Intensive farming of sentient animals has to stop.”
Red Tractor
A spokesperson for Red Tractor said: “Animal welfare is our top priority and we require all certified poultry farms to do all they can to protect their birds. Record temperatures last week posed significant challenges for livestock, pets and humans alike.
“We will continue to work with the poultry industry to review how to minimise the impact of extreme weather conditions on their farms.”
Moy Park
Moy Park processes over 280 million birds each year, but would not confirm how many birds were killed in the heatwave, or how many had survived.
A spokesperson for Moy Park told The Independent: “We are working closely with our farming partners to monitor the situation and have implemented procedures to help protect our birds against the extreme heat.”
Discover the truth about the modern-day chicken industry here.
