LONDON: The world's leading animal rights organization, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), has called on Blackburn Rovers Football Club to not sell the club football team to what it has dubbed the “abusive” chicken and egg corporation Venky's based in Pune. PETA's Asia office has issued a letter to Blackburn Chair John Williams that urges him to not consider any bid offer from Venkateshwara Hatcheries Group, known commonly as Venky's. The rights group emphasized the “appalling” animal rights record of the Indian company. In the letter, PETA tells of investigations into Venky's farms that have revealed birds being forced to live in their own filth and among the carcasses of other birds who had died from abuse and disease. A number of the reports revealed many of the birds were crippled and unable to walk, PETA said in a statement. “The current owners of the Blackburn Rovers should have more respect for the club than to allow it to be associated with a company notorious for causing pain and suffering to millions of birds”, PETA India Chief Functionary Poorva Joshipura said. Blackburn Rovers were not available for comment on Wednesday morning and had not returned repeated calls from Bikya Masr for a statement on the PETA letter. BM