Why You Should Not Buy Dyed Chicks for Easter

Cruelty isn’t cute

Easter, also called Pascha or Resurrection Sunday, is a festival and holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. For many of us, it is a day of celebration and gatherings with friends and family on Easter Sunday.

Every Easter Sunday, huddled next to chocolate shaped bunnies, egg-shaped jelly beans and baskets full of goodies, and children can find live, fluffy and even colourful baby chicks available for sale.

However, for these chicks, Easter would be far from a celebration as they are repeatedly abused and neglected and treated like objects.

These chicks are bought as novelties for children. However, pets are supposed to be thought of as a companion rather than a toy. When these chicks are dyed bright pink, purple, yellow, green, blue or orange, they seem more like toys and objects.

“Anything that encourages people to take an animal into their home without thinking of the long term effects is going to have a negative impact on the animals,” stated Inga Fricke, director of sheltering and pet care issues at The Humane Society of the United States.

There are a few methods farmers use to dye their chicks. Some simply dump their chicks into plastic bins with no regard for their safety or comfort before drenching them with dye and mixing them around as if they were mixing slime. No doubt these delicate chicks would sustain injuries.

Others might be gentler, spraying the chicks with dye and claiming it does not harm the chicks in any way. However, it may cause these young chicks stress.

Other farmers choose to inject the dye directly into the embryo of the chick before it hatches. They claim that the dye is non-toxic and after a few weeks as the chicks moult and grow feathers, the colour will disappear.

However, the problem lies when the small hole is drilled through the egg. There’s a risk where farmers could potentially introduce bacteria into the embryo or even injure the embryo.

But the saddest part of this “tradition”, is that a large majority of these chicks will be dumped and abandoned either once Easter is over or when they grow and lose their colourful feathers.

Though the Humane Society does not have any specific numbers of just how many chicks are abandoned, shelters nationwide have said that they see an increase in chicks, ducks, and rabbits being rescued from dumpsters or brought to them during Easter time.

Chicks who are dumped into parks often become prey animals for larger predators because they are still young and have yet to learned how to find food for themselves and properly defend themselves.

Fortunately, at least half of the states in America have implemented laws that ban the dyeing of animals and several poultry farmers say they no longer do it as well.

If you are considering getting a pet chicken or rabbit for your child this year, the ASPCA recommends you give them a candy instead. However, if you are truly ready for the commitment of getting a new companion, always remember to adopt, and don’t shop.