Ria Rehberg über Tierquälerei in Hühnermastbetrieb – der ganze Talk | stern TV (03.05.2017)
Zu Tode gequält: Was Küken in einem Mastbetrieb in Niedersachsen erleiden müssen
Sie werden getreten, geschlagen und zum Teil lebendig entsorgt - es sind erschütternde Bilder, die die Tierschutzorganisation "Animal Equality" in einem zufällig ausgewählten Hähnchenmastbetrieb in Niedersachsen aufgenommen hat. Weil die völlig überzüchteten Tiere, die möglichst schnell ihr Mastgewicht erreichen müssen, zum Teil sehr krank sind und sich nicht mehr bewegen können, werden sie auf brutale Weise aussortiert. So zeigen die mit versteckter Kamera gemachten Aufnahmen der Tierschützer, wie mit Schaufeln auf die Tiere eingeschlagen wird und wie noch lebendige Küken auf eine Schubkarre geworfen werden, um sie dann zu entsorgen. "Diese äußerste Brutalität an diesen Tieren hat uns alle sehr entsetzt", sagt Ria Rehberg von "Animal Equality". Vor allem, weil es sich um einen Betrieb handelt, "der letztendlich nach dem Zufallsprinzip ausgewählt wurde", so die Tierschützerin. "Das war eben auch das Schockierende, dass man gleich bei diesem Betrieb so dramatische Zustände vorfindet." Über das Leid der Tiere und den Alltag in Mastbetrieben spricht Steffen Hallaschka live bei stern TV mit Ria Rehberg.
* Animal Equality: https://www.animalequality.de/
* Animal Equality auf Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnimalEqualityGermany
* stern TV auf Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sterntv
* Mehr Infos zum Thema: http://www.stern.de/tv/tierquaelerei-so-grauenvoll-werden-kueken-in-einem-mastbetrieb-behandelt-7435764.html #sternTV
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Transcript (English — en)
Yes, we requested
a statement from the relevant factory farm
and invited them to the studio.
We received no response to either request.
However, we have
Ria Rehberg from Animal Equality with us, whom we just
saw in the film. They filed a complaint against
this farm today. Do you expect
criminal prosecution, and
what consequences will there be?
Yes, we did indeed file a complaint against the farm
today. Official veterinarians
confirmed that it constitutes a violation
of Section 172 of the German
Animal Welfare Act, which is also a
criminal offense punishable
by up to three years in prison. What does it say? Um, it says that one may
not
inflict pain or suffering on an animal without reasonable cause, and
in this case, it means that one may not
inflict significant, prolonged pain or suffering out of cruelty.
We saw that this chick was
actually lying severely injured
in this garbage container for 12 hours. One
really has to assume the prolonged
pain or suffering
inflicted upon it. I'll say it again:
they also assume that a
certain mortality rate or
illness is normal with this
method. Of production, 1 to 3% is said to be lost,
but how should one properly
treat the animals? So, first, to the
previous question: In
Germany, 30 million
broiler chickens actually die every year, practically before they
even reach the slaughterhouse, simply
due to the terrible living
conditions. 30 million animals – just
imagine that! So, if
you quantify it like that, I'll ask quite
naively why these
sick animals aren't taken to the vet. Yes, of
course, that's not worthwhile. That would be the
right way. You ca
n't just kill an animal simply because it
's weak or not feeling well. In fact,
you're
only allowed to do that if there's a valid
reason and if the animal is
dying. But we see time and
again that this doesn't happen.
Animals that can no longer run away
because they have leg problems, because
they're so overbred and do
n't gain enough weight, that they can no longer
stand up or
run away, are
simply killed, or in this
case, even disposed of alive.
And because they are vertebrates, they must be stunned before being killed.
That would be the... The
minimum that
can and
must be demanded is... How did you become aware of this particular
factory farm? Are there
whistleblowers in the industry who say, "
Check things out there"? Yes, in
this case, that wasn't the case. Our
investigators actually
proceeded at random. They
simply picked one farm from thousands where
the doors were open,
installed cameras, and documented the procedures.
And that's precisely what's so shocking for us:
you select one farm from
so many and immediately find
such dramatic scenes of unbelievable
animal suffering, which then leads to the question of
how typical this is. What do you suspect? Is this just
an unfortunate
coincidence, to
put it that way, or is it actually
symptomatic of the industry? I think we would
all like to be able to
say that this is an isolated incident, but
I consider that very unlikely
precisely because this farm
was chosen at random and because
other organizations have repeatedly
uncovered very similar conditions in the past.
Animal Quality conducts
investigations worldwide in the livestock industry, and
regardless of the farm or
sector, our investigators...
Documenting and researching, they
always find dramatic scenes of
animal suffering in factory farming.
Many people probably feel the same way
I do: they watch it and
are initially shocked by what a
human being can do to an animal. What was
your impression of the employees of
this facility? Were you
able to find any explanation for how
people are capable of such blunt, mindless violence?
Yes, it was very shocking for us
to see, of course. But I
believe that when workers in these facilities
work with so many animals and are under such pressure,
they have to
switch off to a certain extent, so that they can
no longer perceive the animals as living beings,
but only as
mere production units,
similar to a
pen or a beer can in a factory where you
say, "Okay, it's broken,
I'll just throw it away." That's how animals, as living beings, were treated there.
The animal is
n't doing well, it's broken, it's
simply thrown away, and
no thought was given to the fact that
this animal is suffering, that it
feels pain, that it
is injured, and that it might
need support and help. These are
unbelievable conditions, and we
can only change them by
realizing that meat can't be as cheap
as it's often
offered at special prices. So
we should really ask ourselves where
the animal we want on our plate comes from. This is a
topic that should
leave almost no one indifferent. Therefore,
please feel free to discuss it with each other, also on our
Facebook page or on
sterntv.de. Many thanks for
being here and for this important work,
Ria Reberg, and thanks also to the whole
Animal Equality team. Thank you very much.