Welfare improvements for “Dutch” chickens during transport are around the corner! After Eyes on Animals sent the EU and Dutch government many inspection reports showing injured birds due to poor loading conditions (see a video of some of our inspections HERE), the welfare of chickens during transport is definitely on the agenda of the Dutch government and industry itself! Our latest idea was to initiate welfare-workshops for chicken-catchers so that each catcher was trained in humane handling. Despite the PVE dismissing this idea of ours back in 2012 stating that chicken-catching companies in the Netherlands already had IKB status, we knew this was just a piece of paper and not much worth in practice. Presently, people hired to catch and load chickens do not have any structured training. Therefore, in September 2013 we sent a letter to all chicken-catching companies in The Netherlands suggesting that they get their employees properly trained in humane handling. As such training courses do not yet exist, we offered to coordinate the development of one. One chicken-catching company replied that he was interested, and asked us as well as the SVO (company that specializes in trainings for the whole food sector) to come up with an offer. We decided the best was to meet with the SVO and see how to coordinate these trainings together! Today was out first meeting to get to know one another. As Eyes on Animals is an NGO with investigative-projects keeping us very busy, we suggested they be the experts in leading the trainings and invite us as special guest speakers to the trainings where we can share with the participants our observations. Later this week we will meet the actual appointed SVO trainer for these chicken-catching trainings to discuss the training materials needed and who can do what. We are very happy to get the ball rolling, as trainings pave the way to more responsible handling of animals and a reduction of injuries and suffering. Should these trainings be a success, we will encourage other Member States to also follow suit and inform the EU of this progress in The Netherlands. We are particularly happy with the fact that now there are two chicken-catching companies interested in signing up for these trainings.
By initiating a training program for chicken-catchers, we hope to at least put a stop to the injuries and suffering
birds experience during loading into the transport crates, as seen in these photos.
