• ​
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 

May 3, 2013

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, The 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, The HSUS and other animal welfare advocates have driven a host of reforms.

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.

April 29, 2013: Every leading Canadian retailer makes joint announcement opposing gestation crates and creates timeline to source pork from alternative housing systems by 2022. The retailers include Walmart Canada, Costco Canada, Metro, Loblaw, Safeway Canada, Federated Co-operatives, Sobeys, and Co-op Atlantic.

April 3, 2013: Tim Hortons, Canada's largest fast food chain with more than 4,000 locations in Canada and the U.S., announces it will eliminate gestation crates in its pork supply chain by 2022 and work with governmental and industry entities to eliminate gestation crates across Canada.

March 13, 2013: Bob Evans, a restaurant chain with more than 700 locations and a food product manufacturer, announces it will eliminate gestation crates in its pork supply chain by 2022.

January 23, 2012: Applebee's and IHOP (owned by DineEquity), which has 3,400 locations across the country, announces it will eliminate gestation crates in its pork supply chain by 2020.

January 22, 2013: Marriott International, which operates 3,700 properties in 74 countries and territories, announces it will eliminate gestation crates in its supply chain by 2018 and switch to exclusively cage-free eggs by 2015.

January 22, 2013: General Mills, one of the largest food manufacturers in the world, announces it will eliminate gestation crates in its pork supply chain.

January 21, 2013: Au Bon Pain, a restaurant chain with more than 250 locations across 26 states, announces it will eliminate gestation crates in its supply chain and switch to exclusively cage-free eggs by 2017.

January 11, 2013: Williams Sausage Company, one of the largest sausage manufacturers in the country, announces it will eliminate gestation crates in its supply chain.

December 20, 2012: Arby's, one of the largest restaurant chains in the country with more than 3,500 locations, announces it will eliminate gestation crates from its pork supply chain.

December 18, 2012: Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, owner of Einstein Bros. Bagels, Noah's New York Bagels, and Manhattan Bagels, announces it will eliminate gestation crates from its pork supply chain by 2017.

December 14, 2012: Supervalu, one of the largest supermarket chains in the United States, announces it will eliminate gestation crates, calling on suppliers to provide plans by 2017 for becoming gestation crate-free.

December 5, 2012: Royal Caribbean, the world's second largest cruise liner, announces it will eliminate gestation crates from its pork supply chain by 2022.

November 2012: Metz Culinary Management, one of North America's top food service companies, announces it will eliminate gestation crates from its pork supply chain by 2017.

October 2012: Target, the nation's fourth-largest food retailer with nearly 1,800 locations in 49 states, announces it will eliminate gestation crates from its pork supply chain by 2022.

October 2012: Carnival Cruise Lines, the largest cruise line company in the world, announces it will eliminate gestation crates from its pork supply chains by 2022.

October 2012: The Cheesecake Factory, which operates 173 full-service casual dining restaurants throughout the U.S., announces it will eliminate gestation crates from its pork supply chains by 2022.

October 2012: Bruegger's Bagels, which has over 300 locations in 25 states, announces an elimination of gestation crates within its supply chain by 2022.

September 2012: Dunkin' Brands, one of the world's largest restaurant chains, announces that it will eliminate gestation crates from its supply chain and begin switching to cage-free eggs. 

September 2012: ConAgra Foods, one of the nation’s largest food companies, announces that it will eliminate gestation crates from its supply chain.

September 2012: Hillshire Brands—a major meat company operating the Jimmy Dean, Ballpark, and Hillshire Farm brands—announces that it will eliminate gestation crates from its pork supply chain by 2022.

September 2012: Atlantic Premium Brands—a leading pork distributor to Walmart, Costco, Kroger, Supervalu, Winn-Dixie, Albertson's, and other major retailers—announces that it will eliminate gestation crates from its supply chain by 2017.

September 2012: Jack in the Box, Inc., which operates both the Jack in the Box and Qdoba chains, announces that it will eliminate gestation crates from its pork supply chain by 2022.

September 2012: Wienerschnitzel, the nation's biggest hot dog chain, announces it will work with its suppliers to get gestation crates out of its supply chain by 2022.

August 2012: SUBWAY announces that it is working to eliminate gestation crates from its pork supply chain by 2022.

August 2012: Campbell Soup Co. announces that it is working to eliminate gestation crates from its pork supply chain by 2017, and will reach the goal no later than 2022.

August 2012: ARAMARK, the largest U.S.-based food service company, announces it's eliminating gestation crates in its supply chain by 2017.

August 2012: Harris Teeter Supermarkets—with more than 200 locations throughout the Southeast—announces that it will eliminate gestation crates from its supply chain. Harris Teeter also becomes the first conventional grocery chain to announce that it will work toward ensuring all eggs it sells come from cage-free hens.

July 2012: Costco, the nation’s second-largest retailer, announces that it will eliminate gestation crates from its pork supply chain by 2022.

July 2012: Sysco, North America's largest distribution company, serving 400,000 clients, announces it's creating a gestation crate-free supply chain.

July 2012: Sodexo, the world's second-largest food service company, serving 10 million meals a day, announces its timeline for becoming gestation crate-free.

July 2012: Kraft Foods, the world's second-largest food company and owner of Oscar Mayer brand pork products, announces its timeline for becoming gestation crate-free.

July 2012: Fresh Enterprises, owner of the Baja Fresh, La Salsa Mexican Grill and Canyon’s Burger restaurant chains, issues a joint press release with The HSUS to announce its plans to become gestation crate-free.

July 2012: CKE Restaurants, owner of the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's chains, sets a timeline for ensuring that its pork supply is gestation crate-free.

June 2012: HSUS-backed legislation passes in Rhode Island to outlaw the use of gestation crates and veal crates, as well as the practice of cattle tail-docking.

June 2012: Kroger, the nation's largest grocery chain, announces that it will eliminate gestation crate pig confinement from its supply chain.

June 2012: Cracker Barrel, which has 615 locations in more than 40 states, announces via a joint press release with HSUS that it will eliminate gestation crates from its supply chain.

June 2012: Sonic, a chain with 3,500 fast food locations nationwide, announces that it is working to eliminate gestation crates from its supply chain by 2017, and intends to accomplish that goal by 2022 at the latest.

May 2012: McDonald's makes a second gestation crate announcement: that its pork supply chain will be 100 percent gestation crate-free by 2022.

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 spotlighted nationally in a 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 will 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.