World Day for Farmed Animals Celebrated Across Asia

International animals welfare organisation, World Animal Protection along with the Asia for Animals coalition is celebrating World Day for Farmed Animals to bring focus on the need to treat farm animals as sentient beings and make visible the importance and urgency of farm animal welfare.

Chickens are animals too and should not be treated as products for consumption

Organisations from India, Thailand, South Korea, Nepal, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, China, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and New Zealand participated in the event.

The Asia for Animals (AfA) Coalition is composed of 23 well-known and respected animal welfare organisations that have a shared focus on improving the welfare of animals in Asia.

Intensive animal farming and poor treatment of farm animals poses a pandemic-level threat to humans and also depletes the health of the animals. Diseases such as swine flu, bird flu, and Nipah virus all emerged from farmed animals.

Human pandemics can arise when a strain of the avian influenza virus/Bird-flu is transmitted from its source in wild aquatic birds to farmed chickens.

World Day for Farmed Animals is celebrated on the same date as the birth anniversary of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, who famously said, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

The World Day for Farmed Animals event started on 28^th September and witnessed activities for the entire week, which celebrated the importance of farm animals.

Webinars were organised, polls were conducted, quizzes were created, heartfelt stories of humans who have done some incredible work for farm animals were shared and people were given an opportunity to share their experiences when it came to farm animals.

Gajender K Sharma, Country Director, World Animal Protection India, said, "It is amazing to see a coalition of organisations come together and voice their support for the welfare of farm animals. Farm animals are an integral part of our daily lives. So much of our daily food products comes from farm animals - milk, butter, ghee (purified butter), cottage cheese, eggs and meat, are all sourced from farm animals. But in return, all they get are cramped spaces, appalling living conditions and a violent end to their lives, all for our benefit and consumption.

The time has come to re-evaluate our choices and ensure that farm animals get a better life. Farm animals are sentient beings and we must treat them so. They are not products for our consumption. World Animal Protection is working to end the suffering of animals in factory farms and to ensure farm animals get a better life."

World Animal Protection took the lead from India and influenced organisations like Animal Equality and Stray Relief and Animal Welfare (STRAW) to also participate in the World Day for Farmed Animals celebration.

Pledge for chickens

World Animal Protection has launched a pledge urging consumers to help end the suffering of chickens in intensive poultry farms.

Approximately 40 billion chickens are severely affected each day in intensive farming models globally, whereas 50 million dairy animals are farmed for milk in India and many suffer in substandard conditions.

Farm animals deserves a good life where they can raise their babies and perform their natural behaviour.

Help reduce the unsustainable and increasing demand for animal products by reducing meat consumption and choosing higher welfare products.

Consumers now have more information at their fingertips and are showing they increasingly care about the welfare of animals when they are deciding where to shop and eat.

Good farming and farm animal welfare is better for animals, people and the planet. It's time for the meat industry to take responsibility and strive to do better.

Notes to editors

• For more information about awareness campaign, photos and videos or to arrange an interview please contact, Sahil Sharma on: 9871444038 or email:[email protected]

• Sign the pledge - www.worldanimalprotection.org.in/PledgeForChickens

• To know more about Word Day for Farmed Animals - www.worldanimalprotection.org.in/world-day-farmed-animals