Animal cruelty investigation links to Lidl Supermarkets

An employee of a chicken farm in Lincolnshire that is linked to Lidl secretly filmed the animals being repeatedly run over and crushed to death while being transported, while workers admitted on camera that it was “part of the job.” This led to accusations of animal cruelty against Lidl.

After a High Court dismissal to prohibit Frankenchicken farming, the footage’s source, Tom Herok, has publicly criticized “widespread animal cruelty” in the UK chicken industry.

For violating the Animal Welfare Act, the Welfare of Farmed Animals, and the WATEO (Welfare of Animals During Transport) Regulations, the animal welfare charity Open Cages has filed a criminal complaint against the farm.

This is the fifth video in recent months to question the supermarket’s claims regarding the welfare of its chickens. Lidl is the largest chicken retailer in Europe. After the video was made public, the hashtag #LidlChickenScandal went viral on Twitter. Over 5,000 customers took to social media to express their disapproval of Lidl.

In a recorded statement with Open Cages, Philosophy professor Tom Herok reveals that he embedded himself in the UK chicken industry for five months last year to investigate the welfare of intensively farmed “Frankenchickens.”

Mr. Herok states, Retailers are concealing widespread animal cruelty in the UK chicken industry from us. I not only witnessed animals being carelessly crushed to death on numerous farms that supplied retailers like Lidl. I witnessed a Frankenchicken’s daily struggle firsthand. It was my responsibility to alleviate the suffering of thousands of them.

Tom has passed the recording onto Open cages which is lobbying for significant retailers like Lidl to sign the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC.) Chris Packham, a television presenter who also advocates for animals, has called on Lidl to join and described the footage as “disgraceful.”

The BCC has a set of further developed chicken government assistance guidelines upheld by the RSPCA and upheld by the UK Government. Over 550 businesses have signed up, including M&S, Waitrose, KFC, and Lidl France; however, Lidl has refused to participate in any of the other countries.

According to Lidl, the claims are false: Lidl is not supplied by the in question farm or supplier. We view creature government assistance in a serious way and have for some time been focused on expanding government assistance and recognizability principles all through our store network.”

However, 2 Sisters is listed as a supplier in Lidl’s own internal documents. A farm manager is heard saying in the footage that the birds will “go to Lidl.” Chicken meat produced by 2 Sisters is shown in additional Open Cages footage being sold in Lidl stores under the “Birchwood” label.

Open Cages co-founder Connor Jackson says:

“Lidl asserts that it has severed ties with this farm. However, that will not resolve the issue. Because this is what Lidl requires in its own policies, these are the exact, brutally intensive, and poor conditions that are found on nearly all of the farms that supply Lidl with chicken. As a result, regardless of the company or location, we have witnessed the same scenes of animal suffering in Lidl’s chicken supply chain in the UK and around the world. Until Lidl adopts Better Chicken Commitment standards, this will continue behind the scenes.”