French activists protest against killing of male chicks

PARIS (AP) — French animal rights activists have protested against what they say are broad exceptions to a new legislation that was meant to ban the practice of killing male chicks after they hatch.The ban is set to enter into force in January. Yet France-based animal rights group L214 said exceptions to the rule that have been allowed by the government will make it inefficient. Activists have staged a symbolic protest action near the Agriculture Ministry in Paris, deploying banners and simulating the killing of chick stuffed animals. The egg industry doesn’t use male chicks which cannot lay egg and are different breeds than those used for meat, leading to their killing using techniques like crushing and gassing them.