Bhubaneswar: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA) India, an outfit that champions animal rights, has urged the state government to ban the cruel methods of killing male chicks.
PeTA claimed that poultry hatcheries in the country are killing male chicks through grinding, crushing, burning, drowning, and even feeding them live to fish since they cannot lay eggs.
The outfit pointed out that such practices violate the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). It urged the state government to implement methods that use nitrogen and inert gases, as recommended by the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), the Law Commission of India (LCI), and the World Organisation for Animal Health. It also pleaded for the use of in-ovo sex-determination technology to prevent the birth of male chicks.
In the wake of the decision by the governments of France, Switzerland and Germany to phase out the grinding of unwanted male chicks to death by egg industries, PeTA India has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take step for the ban of the cruel practice in India.
Considering the request of PeTA India, the Animal Husbandry departments of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra issued orders for a complete prohibition on illegal and cruel practices for killing chicks in hatcheries and directed for the adoption of methods recommended by the AWBI and LCI.
“The gruesome killing of countless male chicks simply because they can’t lay eggs is cruel and should be stopped,” says PeTA India CEO and veterinarian Dr Manilal Valliyate. “The government is already taking steps towards using sex-sorted semen to prevent the birth of male calves, which are considered worthless by the dairy industry. In-ovo technology can be used to stop the birth of male chicks.” Valliyate added.
Sex-determination technology, which has been developed in some foreign countries, will be made commercially available to hatcheries. This new technology can be used to identify eggs with male embryos at an early stage of development. As a result, the eggs with male embryos can be destroyed to prevent birth of male chicks.
