Two food industry leaders recently issued groundbreaking commitments
to improving the welfare of “broiler chickens, or chickens abused for meat. Whole Foods Market and Bon Appétit Management Company (BAMCO), a restaurant company operating more
than 650 cafes serving universities and businesses, have pledged to provide
birds with 25 percent more space, natural light, and environmental enrichments.
These meaningful improvements will reduce the suffering of millions of birds
each year.
BAMCO now
also requires that suppliers replace cruel live shackle slaughter methods with
less cruel pre-slaughter stunning systems by 2026. Such systems render animals
unconscious prior to unloading and slaughter, eliminating the horrific
suffering caused by shackling, electrocuting, throat slitting, and scalding in
feather-removal tanks.
As our investigations
into Tyson and other chicken producers show, broiler chickens are
subjected to egregious cruelty and neglect. Crammed by the thousands into
filthy, windowless sheds, chickens buckle under their own unnatural body
weight, and chafe and develop boils and sores from the ammonia-laden flooring. Without
adequate veterinary care, the birds’ wounds are left to fester and many birds suffer
and die.
It’s high
time Tyson adopted a meaningful animal welfare policy to reduce the suffering
of birds. Please sign and share
our petition to Tyson now!
The best way to prevent needless cruelty to chickens and other farmed animals
is to leave them off our plates. Visit ChooseVeg.com for free recipes and tips.