By Michelle van der Spuy
Daybreak Foods and the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) are due to appear in the Johannesburg High Court on 13 May after the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) exposed further neglect and abuse of hundreds of thousands of chickens on its breeding farms.
According to a statement on its website, the NSPCA obtained an urgent temporary interdict on 10 May ordering Daybreak Foods to immediately cease all inhumane slaughter practices and provide adequate, appropriate feed for hundreds of thousands of breeding chickens at its Bela-Bela and Mookgopong sites.
According to the NSPCA, there are approximately 594 000 chickens at these farms that are at risk of starvation and suffering from injuries due to cannibalism, lack of adequate feed and inhumane slaughter practices.
“Daybreak did not disclose the conditions at these two remote breeding farms, despite being fully aware that similar animal welfare deterioration had already occurred at their broiler farms during April and May of this year.
“This lack of transparency has delayed the NSPCA’s ability to intervene.”
According to the NSPCA, they only became aware of the crisis at the breeding farms after a whistleblower brought it to their attention on 7 May and demanded immediate action.
“Without this tip-off, the suffering of these animals would have remained hidden.”
The NSPCA alleges Daybreak Foods further instructed untrained temporary staff to cull compromised breeding chickens by violently swinging them by the head – “a method that is inhumane and illegal”.
“Unlike the smaller broiler chickens previously involved, breeding chickens weigh between 3.5kg and 5kg, which would make standard cervical dislocation methods ineffective and extremely traumatic for these chickens.”
This is the second time this year the NSPCA has had to intervene at Daybreak Foods farms. After receiving complaints about neglected chickens, the NSPCA went to investigate the farms of Daybreak Foods, which are fully owned by the Public Investment Corporation, on 30 April. The farms are near Delmas in Mpumalanga.
They came across thousands of starving chickens that had not been fed for days. Some were in a terrible condition while others were so starved they were chasing each other and eating each other’s open wounds.
Daybreak Foods informed the NSPCA on 1 May that due to its financial difficulties it simply could not continue to supply feed to the chickens and that the association had to cull all the chickens.
The NSPCA and SPCA branches in Gauteng assembled a team of more than 75 staff members and volunteers and more than 350 000 chickens were culled. The last chickens were culled on 5 May. However, more than 500 000 chickens were rescued and relocated to other farms.
“Despite previous interventions, Daybreak has failed to take meaningful corrective action. The NSPCA had no choice but to approach the courts for immediate relief.”
The temporary interdict states that Daybreak Foods must:
- Immediately cease all inhumane slaughter practices.
- Provide adequate, appropriate feed for the chickens.
- Cease all breeding operations and the placing of chicks or chickens at any of its premises.
- Provide a timeline and strategy to resolve the ongoing crisis.
The court also confirmed the NSPCA has unhindered access to Daybreak’s premises. The NSPCA inspectors have already been deployed to the premises to carry out the necessary interventions as quickly as possible.
Daybreak Foods has since received an emergency payment of R74 million to pay workers’ salaries, which have apparently not been paid since April, and purchase feed for the chickens.
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