Rescued hens to feast at this Christmas Party!

MUMBAI - Six hens rescued from slaughter will be served at a Christmas dinner - not in dinner plates but with food as guests of honour! This unusual party will be held by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India here Tuesday, an official said.

“We can only save a tiny fraction of the chickens who suffer every minute of their lives in the meat and egg industries. But billions could be saved if more people simply switched to a healthy, humane vegan diet. We urge everyone to consider making a New Year’s resolution to go vegan,” PETA India’s spokesperson Himani Shetty said.

She added that the hens shall feast on corn, seeds and their other favourite food at a specially decorated Christmas table at PETA’s Andheri office here.

Shetty said that PETA India’s five-year investigation into the poultry industry revealed that the birds are kept in deplorable conditions, with up to seven chickens being crammed into ‘battery’ cages - the size of a sheet of paper.

The birds’ sensitive beaks are cut off, causing some to die from shock and others to suffer a lingering death from starvation because they can’t eat.

Besides, chickens which are killed for meat are crammed by thousands into dark, filthy sheds. They are bred to grow quickly and they often become crippled under the weight of their upper bodies, she said.

At slaughterhouses, chickens are slammed upside down by their legs into metal shackles and many are scalded to death in defeathering tanks. At butcher shops, birds are killed with dull knives, she added.

Shetty also said that eating meat and eggs can be deadly, exposing one to bacteria like salmonella and E. coli.

The consumption of meat and other animal-derived products has also been conclusively linked to heart disease, strokes, diabetes, obesity and cancer, she said, citing studies conducted by PETA.