600 hens die in overcrowded van

A Newport poultry slaughterhouse has been fined 3,000 pounds and ordered to pay 450 pounds costs after more than 600 hens died when they were transported in an overcrowded van with poor ventilation.

1,100 animals had been transported from Tiverton in Devon to Newport and 609 had died before the end of the journey.

Naik Halal Poultry Limited appeared before the Magistrates Court at Abergavenny and pleaded guilty plea into causing animals to be transported contrary to the Welfare of Animals (Transport) (Wales ) Order 2007, an offence under the Animal Health Act 1981 in a way likely to cause undue suffering caused by the means of transportation.