ドイツ、雄ひよこの大量殺処分禁止へ　世界初

【ベルリンＡＦＰ＝時事】ドイツ政府は20日、養鶏業界で行われている雄のひよこの大量殺処分を禁じる政令案を閣議決定した。世界初だという。（写真は雄のひよこの殺処分への抗議として、おもちゃのひよこを作り物の細断機に投入する動物福祉活動家ら。独東部ライプチヒの連邦行政裁判所前で）
　ユリア・クレックナー食料・農業相は発表で、雄のひよこの大量殺処分禁止は２０２２年からで、「動物福祉にとって重要な一歩だ」と述べた。同氏は、こうした決定は「世界初」で、ドイツは諸外国の先導役となり、模範となることを望んでいると強調した。
　また、養鶏業者らは２０２４年から、ふ化前のひよこが痛みを感じることがないように、ふ化過程の早い段階で処分できる方法を導入することが求められる。
　ひよこの雄は卵を産まず、肉も雌に比べて少ない。多くの養鶏場では、ひよこがふ化するとすぐに雄と雌が選別され、雄は粉砕機やガスによる処分が行われる。
　動物福祉活動家らはこうした慣行の廃止を訴えてきたが、農家らは実用的かつ安価で、残酷ではない代替法などないと反論していた。
　ドイツ企業が開発した代替法の一つに、殻にレーザーで小さな穴を開け、受精卵内の液体を採取し、雌ホルモンの有無を調べるというものがある。
　スイスでも昨年、粉砕機による殺処分が禁止されたが、ガス処分は今も認められている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/01/22-11:13）

Germany is set to be the first country to ban mass culling of male chicks in the poultry industry, the government said Wednesday after approving a draft law ending the controversial practice.
The measure passed by the cabinet envisages a ban on mass chick killing from 2022 in a significant step forward for animal welfare, Agriculture Minister Julia Kloeckner said in a statement.
In many poultry businesses, male chicks are separated from females soon after hatching and shredded or gassed as they do not produce eggs and generate less meat.
Tens of millions of males are culled in Germany every year.
Animal welfare activists have long campaigned to end the practice but farmers have complained there is no practical, affordable and cruelty-free alternative.
But methods to determine the sex of chicks before they hatch are available to farmers, according to the government.
- 'First in the world' -
One technique, developed by a German firm, involves using a laser to make a tiny hole to extract liquid from a fertilised egg, before testing it for the presence of a female hormone.
We have invested millions of euros in alternatives, bringing animal welfare and economic efficiency together on German soil, Kloeckner said.
Saying Germany would be the first in the world to proceed in this way, Kloeckner stated it wants to set the pace and be a role model for other countries.
From 2024, the draft law will also require poultry farmers to use methods that work at an earlier stage in the incubation process, preventing pain for the unhatched embryos.
The European advocacy group Foodwatch criticised the move, saying it did not go far enough in an industry that also causes suffering for animals in other ways.
If only the cruel practice of killing chicks in Germany is ended, this will change absolutely nothing about the unbearable suffering of laying hens, said Martin Ruecker, executive director of Foodwatch.
- 'Partial solution' -
The German Poultry Association said the plans were only a partial solution to the problem, claiming they would also lead to immense competitive disadvantages for German poultry farmers.
The association said it welcomed the phasing out of chick culling but saw serious shortcomings in the draft law, including that it would not apply anywhere else in Europe.
The legislation must next be approved by the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament.
Germany and France committed in January 2020 to work together to end the practice of chick shredding by the end of 2021.
French Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume has also committed to outlawing the practice in France from the end of 2021.
Switzerland banned the shredding of live chicks last year, but still allows them to be gassed.
In June 2019, a German court ruled that the slaughter could continue until a method was found to determine the sex of an embryo in the egg.
An EU directive from 2009 authorises shredding as long as it causes immediate death for chicks less than 72 hours old.