May 15, 2012
Timeline of Major Farm Animal Protection Advancements
The HSUS has been concerned about farm animal protection since its founding in 1954 and has led national efforts to advance farm animal protection. Our work has included passing farm animal welfare laws, exposing consumers to how farm animals are typically mistreated, and working with retailers to improve farm animal welfare in their supply chains.
In 2002, HSUS drove passage of a Florida ballot initiative to phase out the use of gestation crates—the first state law to restrict a production practice on animal welfare grounds. Since that vote, HSUS and other animal welfare advocates have driven a host of reforms, with the latest announcement by McDonald's a high point in our campaign.
Below is a timeline of some of the most important advancements made for farm animals in the last decade. Assuredly there are more to come.
May 2012: Denny’s announces that it will work to eliminate gestation crates from its supply chain.
May 2012: Safeway – the nation’s fifth-largest food retailer – announces that it will work to eliminate gestation crates from its supply chain.
May 2012: The HSUS releases the details of an undercover investigation at a gestation crate confinement factory farm which supplies pigs to meat giant Tyson Foods.
April 2012: Burger King announces that it will transition to 100% cage-free eggs for all of its U.S. locations – both company-owned and franchised – and that it will eliminate the gestation crate confinement of pigs throughout its supply chain.
April 2012: The HSUS releases the details of an undercover investigation at a battery cage confinement egg factory farm owned by Kreider Farms. The investigation is put into the national spotlight, including by a Nicholas Kristof New York Times column and on ABC World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer.
March 2012: Wendy's, the second largest fast food chain in the country, announces it will eliminate gestation crates in its supply chain.
March 2012: Compass Group, the largest food service company in the world, announces it will eliminate gestation crates in its supply chain by 2017. The company runs 10,000 dining facilities at schools, hospitals, corporate offices and other venues in the United States.
February 2012: Bon Appétit Management Company, operating more than 400 dining facilities at schools, museums, and specialty venues, enacts an animal welfare policy to eliminate battery cage eggs, gestation crate pork, veal from crated calves, and foie gras.
February 2012: McDonald's becomes the first major restaurant chain in the nation to announce that it wants a gestation crate-free supply chain, and begins a three-month assessment of how it can reach that goal.
January 2012: The same day that HSUS releases new undercover video footage of gestation crates, Hormel Foods—maker of SPAM—announces plans to become gestation crate-free at all company-owned facilities by 2017.
December 2011: Smithfield Foods, which had reneged on its 2007 gestation crate pledge, recommits to its phase-out following public pressure from HSUS.
July 2011: After years of opposition to one another, HSUS and the United Egg Producers agree to jointly lobby for federal legislation protecting animals on farms, which would make the use of barren battery cages to confine hens illegal in all 50 states, among other improvements.
February 2011: Unilever—one of the biggest food companies in the world—becomes the first major food manufacturer to announce that it will switch to 100% cage-free eggs for all products it produces worldwide.
July 2010: HSUS-led bill passes, outlawing the sale of whole eggs from caged hens (regardless of where they were produced) in California.
June 2010: HSUS reaches agreement with Ohio Farm Bureau to lobby for new animal protection rules, leading to the adoption of regulations outlawing gestation crates and veal crates in Ohio, and putting a moratorium on the construction of new battery cage egg facilities statewide.
October 2009: HSUS-led bill passes, outlawing tail docking of cattle in California.
October 2009: HSUS-led bill passes, outlawing gestation crates and veal crates in Michigan.
May 2009: HSUS-led bill passes, outlawing gestation crates in Maine.
November 2008: HSUS-led ballot measure passes, outlawing gestation crates, veal crates and battery cages in California.
May 2008: HSUS-led bill passes, outlawing gestation crates inColorado.
January 2008: HSUS undercover investigation at California slaughter plant leads to the largest meat recall in U.S. history.
June 2007: The Oregon legislature becomes the first in the nation to outlaw gestation crates by passing HSUS-led bill.
May 2007: The American Veal Association passes a resolution encouraging the entire industry to phase out crate confinement of calves by 2017.
March 2007: Burger King announces that it will become the first major U.S. restaurant chain to begin phasing in cage-free eggs and gestation crate-free pork. This decision ripples through the industry, and HSUS discussions subsequently lead dozens more major food companies to adopt similar policies.
March 2007: Wolfgang Puck, the world's most recognizable chef, announces that he will stop serving foie gras, and prohibit the use of gestation crates, veal crates and battery cages in his supply chain.
February 2007: Just three months after HSUS passes the first law prohibiting the crate confinement of veal calves, Strauss Veal and Marcho Farms—two of the largest veal producers—announce that they will be crate-free within two years.
January 2007: Maple Leaf Foods—Canada's largest pork producer—commits to becoming 100% gestation crate-free in its corporate-owned facilities by 2017.
January 2007: Smithfield Foods—the world's largest pork producer—commits to becoming 100% gestation crate-free in its corporate-owned facilities by 2017.
November 2006: HSUS-led ballot measure passes, outlawing gestation crates and veal crates in Arizona.
September 2004: California passes law banning the sale and production of foie gras.
November 2002: HSUS-led ballot measure passes, outlawing gestation crates in Florida.