SAFE JOINS JAMIE OLIVER TO CRY FOWL!

The screening of Jamie Oliver's controversial programme Jamie's Fowl Dinners, about the cruelty of modern-day poultry farming, provided a great opportunity for SAFE to expose the unpalatable truth about the New Zealand poultry industry.

Oliver shocked the UK public by showing the reality of battery hen and meat chicken farming and by gassing surplus male chicks and slaughtering a chicken in front of a live studio audience.

SAFE campaign director Hans Kriek appeared on TV One's Good Morning show to inform viewers about the suffering of chickens in New Zealand.

"Many people are not aware that three million hens are kept in battery cages and that the egg industry kills another three million male chicks just because they can't lay eggs," says Hans. "Half of these chicks are gassed to death and the other half are shredded alive in huge mincers." Hans further explained that 10,000 meat chickens die each day of disease and that the ones that survive are slaughtered at only six weeks of age.

The Oliver show dominated radio talkback the next day providing a welcome platform for SAFE to raise more awareness on factory farming issues. SAFE also placed a number of sponsored advertisements in some of the country's leading newspapers again informing consumers about the dire situation in New Zealand.

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Chickens let loose in Newmarket

The day after the screening of Jamie's Fowl Dinners SAFE volunteers dressed as chickens were handing out flyers against caged eggs in Newmarket to a very receptive public. Many people had seen the show and were concerned about the issue and it's relevance to New Zealand.

Campaign Officer Eliot Pryor says that one woman he approached said she ‘had just been talking about it,' and even those that hadn't seen the programme at least knew about it.

The Newmarket walkabout was held following a demonstration outside the Poultry Industry Association. Soon after protestors arrived the police also arrived worried about the potential ‘bio-hazard' of dumping ‘dead and dying birds,' not aware these were volunteers in costumes rather than real chickens.

CELEBRITY chef Jamie Oliver kills one-day-old baby chicks in front of a live studio audience. In the opening sequence of Jamie's Fowl Dinners Oliver asks guests to separate male chicks from female chicks. He puts the males in a container and suffocates them. Later he electrocutes a chicken and drains the blood from its neck. The show screened on TV One at 8.30pm on Tuesday, 26 August.

Members of the studio audience were reduced to tears during the program. But Oliver was unrepentant, saying it was necessary to kill the birds to raise awareness about the factory farming of chickens.

"I hated it but, let's be honest, this is a job that needs to be done and I'm prepared to do it if it helps to make a difference," he wrote on the program's website. "I don't think it's sensational to show people the reality of how chickens live and die at the moment. It may be upsetting for some people but that's how things are. And if seeing some of the practices helps to change the shopping habits of just five per cent of people watching, then it will be worth it."

"All of those birds would have been killed anyway, as thousands are every day up and down the country."

When the program aired in Britain at the beginning of the year sales of factory farmed chickens dropped by 10 million within weeks and sales of free-range eggs increased by a third.

"SAFE expects a strong response from New Zealand consumers who watch the show," says campaign director Hans Kriek.

"Normally images depicting the reality of farming practices are kept off the screen as they are deemed too upsetting for public showing. Television stations also do not want to get offside with the various meat industries as they bring in large amounts of advertising dollars. Jamie's Fowl Dinners breaks the mould and manages to bring the uncomfortable truth directly into the living rooms of viewers. No doubt there will be a flurry of activities by egg and chicken meat producers trying to discredit the show," says Hans.

"The sad truth however is that New Zealand factory farm practices are very similar to those shown on Oliver's program. Consumers who are upset about the confronting nature of the program have a golden opportunity to turn their anger into action. By no longer purchasing factory farmed products or even better no animal products at all they can make a real difference for animals."

SAFE does not condone the killing of the chickens on the program but there is no doubt that this show like no other before it will be a catalyst for improved conditions for millions of animals.

Join the debate on Jamie's forum.

Jamie's Chick Flick

Jamie's Fowl Dinners

The 90-minute show the poultry industry did not want you to see!

Watch show Warning: Some viewers may find upsetting.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

1) Boycott factory farmed products. These include battery ('caged') eggs and intensively reared meat chickens.

2) Support SAFE's campaign to ban battery cages and other cruel farming practices in New Zealand.

3) Donate towards SAFE's campaign. Click here.

4) Spread the word! Encourage all your family and friends to watch Jamie's Fowl Dinners.

Millions of birds in New Zealand urgently need your help.

Please give generously.