On July 22nd, Mercy For Animals joined forces with passionate advocates to hand-deliver more than 5,000 petition signatures directly to Compass Group USA’s headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. The petition demands that the foodservice giant end its reliance on chickens bred for monstrous, painful, and unnaturally rapid growth.
To ensure the message was impossible to ignore, the petition drop was accompanied by a powerful, eye-catching demonstration right outside the company’s front doors.
Compass Group’s Empty Promise
Compass Group’s supply chain relies on selectively bred chickens engineered to grow so large, so fast, that their own bodies cannot support them. This explosive muscle growth vastly outpaces their skeletal and organ development, leaving millions of birds in chronic pain and frequently causing agonizing bone fractures.
Some of these birds cannot even stand up to reach food or water. The sheer scale of suffering in Compass Group’s operations is heartbreaking.
Years ago, Compass Group publicly promised to end their sourcing of birds bred to suffer. Yet, year after year, the company fails to take the necessary steps to follow through on their word.
5000+ Voices Demanding Change
Mercy For Animals has gathered over 5,000 signatures from people demanding that Compass Group honor their pledge. Crucially, hundreds of these signees are everyday customers of the universities, sports venues, and cultural institutions catered by Compass Group, including:
- Universities: Pace University, San José State University, Michigan State University, Northeastern University, and the University of San Francisco.
- Sports Arenas: Wrigley Field, Crypto.com Arena, and Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
- Cultural Hotspots: The Art Institute of Chicago, The Grammy Museum, and The Met.
The message from Compass Group’s own customers is unmistakable: It is time to stop sourcing chickens bred to suffer.
The Outcome
Compass Group refused to accept the signatures when Mercy For Animals attempted to hand-deliver them. They might have shut their doors on us, but they cannot silence the thousands of people demanding they keep their promise.
Since they refused them by hand, we are mailing them. Every single signature is heading straight to their leadership’s desks. Compass Group made a promise to these animals and their customers—and we aren’t going away until they keep it.
Add Your Voice
Animals in Compass Group’s supply chain cannot afford to wait. Because of Compass Group’s continued inaction, millions of birds still suffer from lameness, heart disease, and organ failure.
Visit CompassCruelty.com to urge Compass Group to immediately accelerate the implementation of their chicken welfare commitment.
