Is dyeing chicks for Easter animal cruelty?

TORONTO – Decorating Easter eggs is a popular tradition for the holiday but is dyeing chicks in pastel colours taking festivities too far?

Animal rights workers in the United States are in a fury over the customary practice of dyeing live chicks in shades of pink, purple and blue to give away as Easter presents.

In Florida, a 45-year-old ban on dyeing animals could be lifted by July 1, but for now the most southern state is legally able to partake in the dye-dipping tradition.

But poultry farmers who sell dyed Easter chicks, according to Reuters, insist dyeing the fuzzy little animals isn’t harmful. Dye is injected into eggs while they’re still incubating or baby hatchlings are sprayed.

Within a few weeks as the chicks grow, they shed their Easter-hued fluff, which is replaced with normal feathers that grow in.

The New York Times says that about half of U.S. states allow animal dyeing but the other half still bar against it.

While they aren’t happy with the Easter tradition, the Canadian branch of the International Fund for Animal Welfare says it isn’t necessarily animal cruelty.

“The dye on these animals itself doesn’t cause harm, but turning sentient animals into gifts and playthings to be given at holidays and thrown away afterwards is irresponsible and inhumane. We encourage people to put the chicken before the egg and prioritize the welfare of the animals,” Michelle Cliffe, IFAW’s Canadian spokeswoman, told Global News.

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