News Brief: activists urge end to poultry slaughter

Activists urge end to poultry slaughter

About a dozen people from the Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST; 台灣動物社會研究會) and Wenshan Community College (文山社區大學) in Taipei gathered at the Council of Agriculture yesterday to present a petition urging the council to put an immediate stop to the slaughter of poultry in traditional markets, the Taipei Times reports today (full article here).

They asked the COA to explain why a proclamation prohibiting the slaughter of poultry in traditional markets that was to be implemented in April 2008 was first postponed and finally abandoned last year.

The advocates said the prohibition related not just to animal welfare, but was also a way of preventing the spread of avian influenza and ensuring sanitary conditions, and violated the Animal Industry Act (畜牧法) and the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法)

COA data from last year show there are 62 registered poultry slaughterhouses in Taiwan, which handle about 120 million chickens every year, the Taipei Times notes.




                                                                                                     Text and photos © Taipei Times