The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is suing the state of California, alleging that the state fails to enforce humane slaughter laws in poultry plants. According to the Los Angeles Times, the group claims that the California Department of Food and Agriculture defers to federal meat inspectors to monitor slaughter practices in the states poultry plants. Federal humane slaughter law does not cover poultry,

“The federal inspectors are there only because poultry is covered under the food safety laws,” said Martina Bernstein, attorney for the PETA Foundation, which filed the suit Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court. “The federal inspectors by law don’t care if the chickens are fully conscious when their throats are slit.”

PETA is also seeking an end to the use of electrical stun current to stun chickens before their throats are slit.

Source: Los Angeles Times