Animal welfare campaigners have criticised Pret A Manger after a person dressed in a chicken costume appeared at a window above protesters gathered outside the company’s London headquarters. The demonstration took place outside 10 Bressenden Place in Victoria on Wednesday, where campaigners from Animal Equality were calling on Pret to publish a detailed plan for ending its use of fast-growing chicken breeds. During the protest, a person in a chicken costume was seen waving from a first-floor window. Campaigners also photographed a sign displayed from the building reading: “Pret have the best chicken sandwich in the city.” Animal Equality said the first floor is understood to house Pret offices, but the organisation stopped short of saying definitively that the stunt had been authorised by the company.
Campaigners demand chicken welfare plan
Animal Equality launched the protest as part of a campaign urging Pret to set out how it intends to move away from fast-growing chicken breeds used in sandwiches, wraps and salads. The charity says the birds are bred to gain weight rapidly and can suffer welfare problems including lameness, broken bones and heart conditions. Pret signed up to the Better Chicken Commitment in 2018 and originally set a 2026 target for ending the use of these breeds. The company has since pushed the deadline back to 2032. Campaigners are now calling for Pret to publish a detailed transition plan showing how it intends to meet the revised date.
‘Nobody came down to speak with us’
Abigail Penny, executive director of Animal Equality UK, said: “We came to Pret’s door to speak up for millions of birds suffering in its supply chain, and the only response we saw was someone in a chicken costume gleefully waving at us from a first-floor window.” She added that campaigners had not been approached by anyone from the company during the protest. Penny said Animal Equality would continue its campaign until Pret published what it considered a credible roadmap for improving chicken welfare. The protest followed a march through central London on October 13, when campaigners delivered a petition backed by nearly 100,000 supporters to Pret’s headquarters. Other animal welfare organisations have also stepped up pressure on the company over its revised chicken welfare timetable.
Originally published by UKNIP.
