Animal activists blockade last London slaughterhouse to demand its transformation
BREAKING NEWS: Activists from East London Chicken Save (ELCS) and Animal Rebellion have ‘locked on’ outside London’s last remaining slaughterhouse, Kedassia in Hackney Wick, stopping it from operating.
Activists in the early hours of Wednesday (March 23) climbed on top of an empty lorry - having already delivered thousands of birds to their deaths - preventing the Kedassia slaughterhouse from any further operations. At the time of publishing, activists remain locked on and are putting out calls via social media to others to join their efforts.
The action is part of Animal Rebellion’s Gardens not Slaughterhouses campaign that aims to transform places of animal and environmental injustice into community gardens. Miranda Whelan, a spokesperson for Animal Rebellion, said:
“We need to build a just and sustainable future by replacing slaughterhouses, which kill gentle and intelligent animals and damage the environment, with community gardens. Gardens improve the well-being of the local people and allow them to grow healthy, sustainable food. We are demanding that Kedassia shut down and let this land be used for something that will benefit the whole community.”
According to Animal Rebellion, animal agriculture contributes at least 18 per cent of all global emissions, 70 per cent of agricultural emissions and up to 80 per cent of global deforestation. Slaughterhouses also use vast amounts of water at between six and 30 cubic metres per tonne of ‘product’.
The goal of today’s action aligns with sentiments shared by the local community, said Animal Rebellion, to make London “greener and more sustainable”.
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Posters dropping truth bombs about animal agriculture adorn the walls outside the Kedassia slaughterhouse in East London. Photo: Animal Rebellion / @sheepistakingphotos
“I’m a mother and I know that our kids need a space to learn how to grow vegetables, not kill birds,” said Bel Jacobs, a local resident. “Community gardens would give us a much-needed green space and a social hub where everyone can meet and connect.”
Kedassia in Hackney Wick is somewhat notorious as the last active abattoir in London and the setting for countless morning vigils organised by East London Chicken Save. The grassroots group is part of the global Animal Save Movement network that bears witness to animals in their final moments before entering slaughterhouses.
East London Chicken Save was unavailable for comment, but said on its Instagram account:
“Every year, the UK kills 950 million birds. Chickens are intelligent, gentle birds and experience pain and trauma. By killing chickens, Kedassia is killing our environment and our community. Together we can shut this slaughterhouse down and transform this place of death into a space for life and community.”
Every single year we slaughter 80 billion land animals of which more than 72 billion are chickens. This means that every single second, almost 2,300 chickens are slaughtered. For more on the devastation caused by chicken farming including footage obtained from inside chicken farms, watch our video on What chicken farming looks like in 2021:
Andrew Gough is Media and Investigations Manager for Surge.
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