THE RSPCA is launching a fresh campaign calling for retailers to move to Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) compliant poultry.

It follows a High Court legal challenge which was dismissed last month, which challenged the welfare of conventional breeds of poultry.

See also: High Court dismisses legal challenge over broiler welfare

The charity will ask the public to lobby the supermarkets they used and campaign for change.

Last week the Co-op said it would lower chicken stocking densities but stopped short of committing to slower-growing breeds.

A recent poll for the RSPCA found two out of three people (66%) “sometimes or always” check the packaging on chicken products to see if it is higher welfare. It also found that seven out of 10 adults say that a supermarket offering higher welfare chicken “would impact where they choose to shop”.

Public support

Emily Harris, campaigns manager at the RSPCA, said: “The RSPCA and our colleagues at RSPCA Assured work closely with retailers, and so we wanted to create a helpful guide to make it as easy as possible for them to sign-up to the BCC and improve animal welfare on a massive scale, meeting the desires of their customers.

“But we cannot do that without the public’s support so we’re urging everyone to harness your purchasing power and tell supermarkets directly that we want to see higher welfare chicken on supermarket shelves.