Between Tuesday and Thursday of this week, Madrid celebrates the I European Summit of the Open Wing Alliance (OWA), a coalition made up of more than 90 organizations from 67 countries that aims to free laying hens from cages and improve their animal welfare and that of chickens destined for meat consumption, informs Servimedia.
A total of 23 organizations will participate in this summit, among them the Spanish Equalia NGO (host of the event) and Animal Equality.
The objective of this first European summit is to outline the ‘road map’ in the European Chicken Commitment 2023-2026 and share success stories in animal welfare campaigns to ensure that all companies have joined this European policy in 2026 .
The meeting will also address the problem of cages in animal husbandry for consumption and how to achieve its general ban by 2027, a commitment still pending by companies such as Mercadona. The final objective of the OWA is to be able to produce food in a more sustainable way and with a renewed comprehensive vision, in terms of food safety and animal welfare.
This first European meeting is held in Spain due to the promotion of the European Chicken Commitment (ECC) in the country. Specifically, half of the main Spanish retailers have committed, including Carrefour, Eroski, Alcampo, El Corte Inglés and Aldi. At the European level there are more than 350 affiliated entities, including leading food companies such as Subway, Sodexo and Nomad Foods.
According to Equalia, the European Chicken Commitment is the leading set of science-based animal welfare standards that sets the industry’s minimum benchmark standards for chickens raised for meat.
It is a European policy promoted by 36 organizations that includes the animal welfare standards approved by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA).
Among the most important aspects, a change to breeds of chickens with higher welfare and slower growth stands out to significantly reduce their daily suffering, an increase in the space allocated to each bird, better lighting and air quality, as well as a more humane sacrifice, through controlled stunning.
“Macro-farms are a public health problem, with a high density of confined animals and low genetic diversity. It is, therefore, the perfect cocktail for zoonotic diseases, such as bird flu. In addition, the massive use of antibiotics preventively, instead of therapeutically, in these animals decreases the effectiveness of the drugs that people consume, increasing their exposure to diseases”, affirms Equalia.
The Open Wing Alliance coalition works against the mistreatment of chickens in large factory farms. All over the world, the demand for white meat has prompted the poultry industry to raise chickens to grow as quickly as possible.
Now the rapid growth rate of these birds means their bodies can’t keep up and many suffer from leg problems, lameness and heart disease. In addition, they have little room to move and are subjected to almost constant, low-intensity artificial lighting with short periods of darkness, and virtually no environmental stimuli.
“Our goal is to banish these industrial chickens from the food system, which grow so fast and unnatural that it would be equivalent to a human baby reaching 300 kilos in its first two months of life. If we make a comparison with the eggs, we can affirm that this fast-growing chicken is the new ‘code 3’ egg”, indicates Julia Elizalde, Equalia NGO campaign manager.
According to Elizalde, “consumers have already expressed their rejection of eggs from caged hens and now they are demanding chickens with a more natural growth.” “It is necessary to produce our food in a more sustainable way and with a renewed comprehensive vision, in terms of food safety and animal welfare,” she concludes.
