UP asks hatcheries to stop crude killing of male chicks

The Uttar Pradesh government has issued an order to all district veterinary officers to instruct poultry hatcheries to stop using crude killing of male chicks and instead use means recommended by the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) and the Law Commission of India (LCI).

The officers have been asked to submit a report of the actions taken.

According to a release issued by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India regarding the standard egg industry practice of killing unwanted male chicks, the UP Director of animal husbandry, U.P. Singh, has issued the order.

The egg industry commonly kills male chicks and others who are weak or otherwise unwanted by grinding, crushing, burning, and drowning the animals - and even feeding them live to fish.

In its letter to the state government, PETA India pointed out that the common cruel methods of killing unwanted chicks apparently violated Section 11(1)(l) of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.

The group had requested that the poultry hatcheries use nitrogen and inert gases as recommended by the AWBI, LCI, and World Organization for Animal Health.

This new technology, which has been developed abroad and will be commercially available soon, would allow eggs with male embryos to be destroyed in the early stage of development and spare live chicks a horrific death.

PETA India CEO and veterinarian Manilal Valliyate said in the release that "the gruesome killing of countless male chicks simply because they cannot lay eggs is cruel and should be stopped. We are grateful that the Uttar Pradesh government is calling for a crackdown on the common cruel and illegal killing of unwanted chicks by the poultry industry."

Uttar Pradesh is one of the top egg-producing states in the country, according to the 2019 report on Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics released by the Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries. IANS