Scrap Factory Farming takes its case to the European courts
NEWS: The Scrap Factory Farming (SFF) campaign has filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to hold the UK government accountable for its failure to protect the public from climate change and the risk of future pandemics posed by factory farming.
After a judge at the Royal Courts of Justice in London refused to grant a judicial review into the government’s position on factory farming in January, SFF vowed to appeal.
“This world-first case joins a growing list of cases before the ECHR seeking to address the climate crisis,” said Lorna Hackett, a barrister on SFF’s legal team, “but is unique in also addressing pandemic and antibiotic resistance risks. Unlike cases already before the court from France, Switzerland and Portugal, our challenge to the UK Government specifically identifies the climate risks posed by runaway agricultural methane emissions and deforestation. Factory farming at current levels is simply not compatible with the Government’s emission reduction commitments, including the Global Methane Pledge.”
SFF’s original bid for a judicial review asked for “a full assessment of the risks posed by factory farming to be conducted and published, detailing appropriate safeguards which would be put in place to protect the public.” With avian flu tearing through farms and wild bird colonies globally and several instances of human infection this year, plus dozens of human cases of swine flu and seven deaths in India, all governments should be taking the public health threats posed by intensively farming animals.
A recent study, which Surge reported on here, found that zoonotic disease risk is actually worse in extensive farming systems due to encroachment on wildlife habitat. However, the often unhygienic conditions on factory farms can make viruses more deadly, as is the case with avian flu, and create many opportunities for them to be passed back to wild animals or to humans, for example through the movement of animals and waste products. As former pig farm vet turned animal advocate Dr. Alice Brough also noted, factory farming additionally contributes to encroachment on wild habitat: “The vast feed requirements for intensively farmed animals lead to devastating deforestation in other parts of the world, such as South America,” with the added impact of contributing to the climate crisis. “Every part of this practice is a ticking time bomb for our species,” she said.
Claire Hamlett is a freelance journalist, writer and regular contributor at Surge. Based in Oxford, UK, Claire tells stories that challenge systemic exploitation of and disregard for animals and the environment and that point to a better way of doing things.
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