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| Pigs on a factory farm. Photo: Depositphotos.com |
Some 1,600 Dutch farmers now rear chickens and pigs under the
‘Beter Leven’ trade-mark, which indicates better living conditions for the
animals.
The scheme was launched ten years ago when six poultry farmers gave
their hens more room and a covered outdoor space to forage, so qualifying for
the trade mark just launched by animal protection group Dierenbescherming.
By
2012 the number of participating farms had reached 800 and now 31 million
animals are being reared under ‘better life’ conditions, broadcaster NOS said
on Thursday. The trade mark has a three-star system – the more stars the better
the way the animals are reared.
Despite the shift to more animal friendly
farms, some 2,500 Dutch poultry, pig and other farmers still offer their
animals no additional facilities, NOS said. Much of their meat is sent abroad
to countries where animal welfare is not as high on the agenda.
‘We are leading
the way in the Netherlands, but we are not yet done,’ Niels Dorland of Dierenbescherming told NOS. ‘We have to keep
on going because 2,500 is still far too many.’
Supermarkets
Earlier this month,
animal rights lobby group Wakker Dier said supermarkets are still not doing
enough to encourage the sale of chicken with a quality label and some are
selling more of the cheapest meat to produce.
The organisation conducted a
random test among 12 big supermarket chains and found that two thirds of
chicken products did not have any form of quality label. ‘That means
supermarkets are promoting the sale of chickens raised in the poorest
circumstances,’ a Wakker Dier spokesperson said.
Almost 30% of chicken products
now have some form of quality label, up seven percentage points compared to
last year. But given that last year’s increase was 25%, this year’s figures are
not good news, the organisation said.
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