The Cage-Free Birds Sing
With one simple decision, Wild Oats
Markets, the third-largest natural foods retailer in the United
States with 75 stores in 23 states, has just made life
better for countless laying hens who typically live in
crowded battery cages no larger than a piece of notebook paper. On
Tuesday, Wild Oats announced a new corporate policy against the sale
of cage eggs, effective immediately.
This historic announcement makes Wild Oats the
first national retailer to officially commit exclusively to
cage-free eggs for its approved national and regional product lists.
The hundreds of millions of hens in battery cages are the most
intensively confined animals in the United States. Caged laying hens
cannot even stretch their wings, let alone engage in other natural
behaviors such as nesting, foraging, perching, and dust bathing.
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"Demand for improving the welfare of farm
animals has never been higher," said Perry Odak, president and
CEO of Wild Oats. "We are hopeful that our decision not to
approve egg farmers who use caged birds for our national and
regional product lists will encourage the egg industry
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to
move in the direction of phasing out its use of battery cages, and
shifting toward cage-free methods that take the animals' welfare
into account."
At present, virtually no laws exist in the
United States to protect these birds. Egg-laying hens are exempted
from the federal Animal Welfare Act and are excluded from the Humane
Methods of Slaughter Act. Most states' anti-cruelty statutes either
explicitly exempt standard agricultural practices—no matter how
abusive—or they aren't ever applied to farm animals.
Fortunately, with leading companies like Wild Oats taking steps to
improve animal welfare, laying hens in the United States are
beginning to see their plight improve. And that's why it's important
to
thank Wild Oats for leading this
important charge.
Save the Whales
The HSUS and other groups have made an
emergency appeal to the National Marine Fisheries Service to
protect the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale from
death and injury from ship strikes. Please
take action today to save the whales. |
Casualties of War
The Department of Defense takes a
hard-hearted approach to the stray dogs and cats befriended by
our troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan: shoot-to-kill.
Tell President Bush to support our troops by
reversing this cruel policy. |
Court KO's Cockfighters
A federal court rejected a
pro-cockfighting group's challenge to a 2002 law that cracks
down on illegal animal fighting. This ruling clears the way for
Congress to pass felony punishments for animal
fighting.
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Recent Victories
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Texas Governor Perry is poised to sign a ban on
Internet hunting.
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Washington State's Governor Gregoire signed a
bill to make dog fighting and cockfighting felony offenses. |
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