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September 12, 2023 / 10:24

Gazeta.pl publishes shocking video report on chicken farms

Gazeta.pl, one of the Poland's leading internet portals, once again touches on the difficult issue of industrial animal farming in Poland. A few weeks after the premiere of the comic story "42 days" describing the life of chicken broilers, Gazeta.pl publishes the video reportage "Stiffs. Where Eggs Come From”. It shows the results of an investigation by the Open Cages Association, an animal rights Polish NGO, into the conditions at the farm of one of the largest egg producers in the European Union – the Wozniak Poultry Farm. The activists worked for six weeks at the farm in Wioska, Greater Poland district, where they took over 900 footages using their phones and cameras. 

In their footage, two Open Cages’ activists Oxana Osadchuk and Alexander Askirka captured, among other things, hens dying in suffering after being jammed between metal parts of cages, being left without help when injured or sick, and dead animals lingering for days in chicken houses where other hens are alive and laying eggs. Based on footage filmed at the Wozniak Poultry Farm, a video reportage entitled "Stiffs. Where Eggs Come From” was created, showing the dramatic conditions in the poultry sheds. Its authors are Patryk Strzałkowski, Dominik Szczepański and Patryk Larwiński from Gazeta.pl. This is another installment of the Gazeta.pl's reporter's investigation, which aims to initiate a discussion on the conditions faced by farm animals in Poland.

"Poland is one of the largest producers of eggs and the largest producer of poultry meat in the European Union. Across the EU, more than 160 million hens may be kept in cages and another 130 million in barn farming. In our report we show the reality of how these hens live and how the eggs that end up on our tables are produced," explains Patryk Strzałkowski, editor-in-chief of Zielona.Gazeta.pl.

"Over the past 10 years, the number of large-scale animal farms in Poland has increased by several hundred per cent. Our report covers only small part of the problems associated with this business. In other publications at Gazeta.pl, we also touch upon the issues of pollution emitted by farms or their nuisance for local communities," says Gazeta.pl’s investigative reporter Dominik Szczepański.

"In Poland, almost three quarters of laying hens are kept in cages, and one in five of those chickens live at the Wozniak Poultry Farm. Meanwhile, our investigation proves once again the suffering that industrial poultry farming entails. The responsibility for improving the situation of the animals lies, on the one hand, with the owners of the hen farms, and on the other – and above all – with the politicians who influence the current legislation. The European Commission is currently working on a proposal to ban cage farming and much will depend on the position of the Polish Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development," explains Bogna Wiltowska, Director of Investigations and Interventions at the Open Cages Association.

An English-language version of the video reportage "Stiffs. Where Eggs Come From” can be viewed here.

This is another Gazeta.pl project carried out in cooperation with the Open Cages Association. In August this year, the portal published a full-length comic story "42 days" about industrial chicken farming. An English version can be found here.

Both projects were translated into English by the excellent literary translator David French.

The editorial team of Gazeta.pl has the ambition to change the world for the better by focusing on important social issues and addressing difficult topics. The Gazeta.pl's journalists are committed to fighting for equality, human rights and the protection of environmental resources.

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Gazeta.pl publishes shocking video report on chicken farms