Today Wendy’s, one of the largest and most influential restaurant chains in North America, announced its commitment to improving animal welfare in its U.S. and Canadian supply chains by switching to 100 percent cage-free eggs by 2020. The move, that will spare hens a life of suffering in tiny wire battery cages, follows a Mercy For Animals petition on Change.org which gathered more than 150,000 signatures.
Wendy’s cage-free commitment follows similar announcements by Subway, McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, Panera Bread, Jack in the Box, and Qdoba establishing deadlines for switching to totally cage-free egg supply chains.
On today’s factory farms, more than 90 percent of hens used for eggs are crammed into wire cages so small the birds can’t walk, spread their wings, or engage in other simple natural behaviors. Battery cages are so cruel they have been banned in California and Michigan. Even Ohio, the nation’s second-largest egg-producing state and home to Wendy’s, has stopped construction of new caged egg-production facilities.
Wendy’s cage-free egg commitment will reduce the suffering of countless hens and hopefully inspire other food companies to do the same. It’s high time the rest of the food industry, including Tim Hortons, acknowledged that cramming birds into cages barely larger than their bodies is cruel and has no place in a civilized society.
Tell Tim Hortons to stop stuffing birds in cruel cages:
- Email David Clanachan, president and chief operating officer of Tim Hortons Canada, at [email protected].
- Email David Blackmore, president of Tim Hortons USA, at [email protected].
Of course, the best way to help hens is to avoid eating eggs altogether. Try these 10 delicious egg recipes without the eggs.