Viva!

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CAMPAIGNS UPDATE: MARCH 2004



This month's Update is about just one subject and reports on a major
victory in the USA and an urgent campaign in the UK. After chickens and
turkeys, the animal which is factory-farmed in the greatest number in
the UK is one that many people don't realise is factory farmed at all:
duck. 20 million ducks went to slaughter in the UK last year, virtually
every single one a product of intensive systems. This Easter, while
cards showing fluffy Easter ducks are sold and sent throughout the
country, millions of these essentially wild, aquatic birds will spend
their entire, short lives in squalid, overcrowded and filthy sheds -
their webbed feet treading nothing but ammonia-soaked litter and the
only water they see being in their drinkers.



In the UK just a few years ago and in the USA very recently (see below),
Viva!'s campaigns against duck factory farming have led to real and
significant change. Our new campaign aims to achieve even more.





Marks & Spencer Duck Horror Exposed by Viva!

Join our Day of the Ducks: April 3rd 2004



Almost everyone enjoys watching ducks flying in formation across the sky
or dabbling and up-tailing on the local pond. This is how they should
live - the epitome of freedom. Sadly, factory farmers are increasingly
turning to ducks in order to boost profits. Behind the trade lies a sad
story of dejection, stress and misery.



Viva! has recently investigated several duck units. Twice we visited
Manor Farm Ducklings, who supply Marks & Spencer. On our first visit, we
saw thousands of fluffy, yellow ducklings in stinking, windowless sheds.
Some could barely walk and dragged themselves along on their wings.
Others had fallen on their backs and were unable to right themselves and
this is how they would die - a horrible, stressful death. Many had
already lost the battle to live and their little corpses were scattered
amongst the straw. One duckling had fallen behind machinery and was
hopelessly trapped - calling desperately for a mother who would never
come.



In these sheds, birds that have evolved to eat, swim, dive, clean and
play in water never even see it, except in their drinkers. One reason
why it is so severely restricted is because ducks naturally like to
splash water over their bodies. In factory farms, it causes choking
ammonia to be released from the faeces-covered floor. Yet it is vital to
ducks' health to immerse themselves in water: the outcome is entirely
predictable - dirty, bedraggled feathers that can make it difficult to
keep warm, eye problems and even blindness.



On our second visit to Manor Farm six weeks later, the ducklings were
already at slaughter weight. Again, we found more corpses, including,
some that appeared to have been there for a very long time, and more
injured and dejected birds, some in obvious pain and emotional distress.



On another Manor Farm site, we found water even more pitifully
restricted. Nipple drinkers, which were designed for chickens, meant
that these poor birds had to battle for every drop of water. No wonder
corpses were piled high amongst the straw and slurry. Sadly, it isn't
just one company perpetrating this misery as we have witnessed scenes
like these in almost every factory farm we have visited, including brand
leaders Green Label and Kerry Foods.



Most farmed ducks are bred from the Mallard and some from the Muscovy
but all have retained many of their wild instincts. Bred to be heavy,
they may be unable to fly, have difficulty in walking and are prone to
leg disorders. None will ever swim. All this in a seven-week life life
span when they should live for about 10 years.









It is telling indeed that we should have found such scenes at a supplier
of Marks & Spencer, a retailer that publicises its commitment to animal
welfare and has even won the Compassionate Supermarket Award. For this
reason, we believe that M&S will be very sensitive to the exposure of
conditions on their suppliers' farms and are targeting them for high
profile protests on our Day of the Ducks, Saturday April 3rd. We have
produced specially-designed Marks & Spencer materials and expect
protests to take place on high streets throughout the country.



The last time Viva! campaigned on duck welfare we managed to put an end
to the sale of meat from cruelly de-beaked ducks. Very recently,
Viva!USA persuaded a major retailer to transform its policies on duck
welfare (see below). With your help, we have the opportunity to make a
real difference. If you'd like more information about how to get
involved in your area, get in touch with us by clicking here
<mailto:justin@...>







Viva! Duck Victory: Whole Foods Demands Highest-Ever Standards



Proof that dedicated campaigning achieves results and that businesses
can change has come recently from the USA. The gauntlet has been thrown
down by quality US supermarket chain, Whole Foods Market, with its
recent purchase of the UK Fresh & Wild health food chain. Thanks largely
to the determination and persuasive powers of Viva!USA campaigns
director, lauren Ornelas, Whole Foods Market has made animal welfare one
of their top priorities and its high standards expose the 'animal
friendly' claims of other British supermarkets as being little more than
marketing hype.



With 145 stores in the US and a turnover approaching $4 billion, Whole
Foods recently transformed its attitude to animals after a two-year long
campaign by Viva!USA. Late last year, Whole Foods' CEO, John Mackey,
conceded that Viva! was correct that the company's standards needed to
be higher in order to achieve good animal welfare. Following discussions
with Viva!, Mackey researched the issues on his own and ultimately took
the step of becoming vegan once he became convinced of the inherent
animal cruelty involved in modern livestock production and slaughter.



In a press statement issued by Viva!USA, Mackey stated that Whole Foods
Market would seek animal welfare improvements from its duck meat
supplier along with an end to that supplier's involvement in the foie
gras market. Since then, Whole Foods Market has been working with their
suppliers and animal welfare organisations, including Viva!USA to draw
up new and vastly improved 'animal compassionate' standards, beginning
with ducks. Access to fresh air, water for swimming and the ability to
roost and to forage are amongst the requirements, all of which are
entirely denied most UK ducks. These are the standards which Viva!
expects Marks & Spencer - and all other British retailers - to now
attain.



"Whole Foods is helping to create a paradigm shift in the way farm
animals are treated", says John Mackey. "We don't want incremental
change that leaves the industrial farming model still operable. We are
committing to a revolution. We are starting with ducks and are going to
go on to all other species."



Viva!, of course, opposes all use of animals for meat but while working
towards a vegetarian world, we believe it is vital to do what we can to
improve farmed animal welfare: Whole Foods' change in policy will make a
real and significant difference to the lives of many animals and we
welcome it on that basis.





Help Needed



We recently received the following email from the Pigeon Control
Advisory Service:


We have been asked, by a pest control company in London, for assistance
with removing baby pigeons from several railway bridges in Redhill and
Herne Hill. The company is going to net these bridges, sometime this
month, on behalf of Network Rail.


This company does not kill pigeons, hence the request for assistance.
They have previously demonstrated that they are prepared to treat
pigeons humanely and will ensure a) that all baby pigeons are removed
before the netting is erected and b) that no adult pigeons are trapped
behind the netting once erected.
These jobs must be completed before the end of March so we haven't been
given a great deal of notice.



We only need one or two people at each bridge to assist as it will
simply be a case of being there with cat carriers/boxes to take any baby
pigeons handed down by the workers - these pigeons will then need to be
taken to Pigeon Recovery in Sutton.



If anyone can assist with this operation will they please either ring
PICAS on one of the following numbers or email PICAS at the following
address:
PICAS: 01353 667230 or 07903 011715
enquiries@...





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