Yesterday Target announced that it would work with its vendors to eliminate gestation crates from its pork supply chain by 2022. As
the fourth-largest retailer in the United States, and the second-largest
discount retailer in the nation after Walmart, Target’s commitment sends a
clear message that the use of gestation crates is no longer acceptable in the
American marketplace.
As Walmart’s biggest competitor, we hope Target’s announcement
will make it obvious to Walmart that it must also commit to phasing out
gestation crates. More than 30 other major food providers, including Costco,
Kmart, Safeway, Kroger, Harris Teeter, and McDonald’s, have all started
demanding their suppliers do away with these cruel crates. Yet Walmart
continues to support animal abuse–buying pork from suppliers that condemn
intelligent and social animals to a lifetime of misery and deprivation inside
tiny gestation crates.
MFA is calling on Walmart to quickly follow Target’s
lead in taking a stance against inherently cruel gestation crates. Mercy For
Animals’ national Walmart Cruelty campaign is aimed at pressuring Walmart
executives to adopt a new policy requiring the company’s pork suppliers to
phase out gestation crates.
While retailers have incredible power to end some of the
most egregious factory farming practices, consumers can also help prevent
cruelty and promote compassion each time they sit down to eat by adopting a
vegan diet.
