The People – Animals – Nature Party today filed a bill in the Assembly of the Republic to end the slaughter of male chicks – a practice of the egg industry that has already been banned in several European countries, but persists in Portugal.

Every year, more than 300 million newborn chicks are discarded and crushed alive by the livestock industry, namely the egg industry, legally, in Portugal and the European Union," warns PAN spokeswoman Inês de Sousa Real.The massacre, also known as "Male chick culling", happens a few hours after hatching, as soon as the chicks are separated according to their sex. While females are sent to egg production industries, males are considered an undesirable by-product for both the egg industry and the meat industry, as these animals gain weight very slowly and produce only small amounts of meat at slaughter age." These small living beings, after hatching, already have a heart, nervous system and lungs. Soon after birth, they are able to eat on their own and walk behind their mother. We have to consider not only the impact that this practice has on animal welfare and respect for EU law, but also the environmental impact", considers Inês de Sousa Real.De according to Council Regulation (EC) 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing (death), the approved methods for the slaughter of chicks up to 72 hours (the so-called 'chicks of the day') are mechanical maceration (shredding) or gassing. A 2019 study by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) found, however, that maceration can fail to protect the welfare of these animals. In the initiative delivered today, the PAN argues that poultry houses should start using methods to identify the sex of chicks in ovo, that is, in the embryonic stage, through the use of laser or similar method developed for this purpose. See the Bill here