Some of the world’s largest corporations honored their commitments to adopt higher welfare cage- and crate-free supply chains, thanks in large part to our continued work and pressure.
During 2024, we secured commitments from nearly a dozen national and multi-national companies to only use eggs from hens no longer confined to cages, and we helped more than 40 companies work toward implementing higher welfare procurement policies for hens in egg production and mother pigs. Our expertise in animal welfare and our presence on the ground in more than a dozen countries means we are in a prime position to help global companies such as Marriott International meet their deadlines to improve farm animal welfare in their supply chains.
Our advocacy for companies to change their supply chains, coupled with our technical expertise, has helped to drive real change for animals on the ground. The second largest egg producer in the world expanded its cage-free production to meet the demand from some of the largest global companies. In Brazil, we secured a commitment from the largest independent pig producer in the country to reduce confinement time in gestation crates, impacting over 40,000 sows. Further, we helped eight egg producers in Malaysia, Viet Nam and Mexico transform their systems by adding cage-free housing for hens to meet the market’s growing demand. Now, nearly 80,000 hens will be cage-free in Malaysia, Viet Nam, and Mexico because of our work with farms to improve welfare.
We also helped seven financial institutions adopt or update their public-facing policies to include farm animal welfare, citing the use of cages and crates as a material risk. One way this made a real difference was in Malaysia, where a government-owned bank offered a below-market financing rate to build the country’s first cage-free aviary for egg-laying hens. This was the first time that government funds in Malaysia were used to improve animal welfare.
Encouraging progress for animals at corporations and in public policy
We also work hard to hold companies accountable when they fall short of stated commitments to do better for farm animals. This fall, for example, we launched a campaign calling on Target to follow through with its cage-free and crate-free commitments for egg-laying hens and pregnant pigs. In addition, our Animal Protection Law department at the HSUS asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate the largest meat and poultry company in the world, JBS—and its subsidiary, Pilgrim’s Pride—for allegedly misleading investors about how they treat animals and about their climate and environmental impacts. We’re also pressuring Ahold Delhaize, a grocery corporation that owns Giant, Stop & Shop, Food Lion and Hannaford, to honor failed pledges on animal welfare.
We bring this kind of determination to halls of power, both private and public. A campaign of more than 50 years finally achieved victory in April when Great Britain banned live animal exports for fattening and slaughter. The Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Act will spare millions of animals from long, stressful journeys that cause suffering, exhaustion and death. The law is the culmination of relentless efforts by animal advocates around the UK, and the world, including Humane Society International/UK.
Defending legal progress for farmed animals
In the U.S., even after the Supreme Court upheld the nation’s strongest farm animal welfare law, California’s Proposition 12, in 2023, we knew we’d have to continue to defend it from insidious tactics led by some pork industry insiders. Our Animal Protection Law attorneys defended both Proposition 12 and the similar Massachusetts Question 3 in two further legal challenges. In June 2024, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a decision upholding Proposition 12 against a challenge by the Iowa Pork Producers Association. And in July 2024, a federal court in Boston upheld Question 3 against a similar challenge by Triumph Foods. These wins once again affirm the constitutionality of state laws that keep cruel and unsafe products off store shelves. Similar laws have been passed in 15 states, and many pork producers have already converted to less intensive confinement systems for animal housing.
But the attacks on state laws persist, not only in the courts, but in the halls of Congress, where a major threat came this year in the form of language in the House version of the Farm Bill designed to wipe out Proposition 12 and laws like it. This language was pushed by lobbyists who represent a backward-facing segment of the pork industry. In response, we have worked with our partners, including more than 6,000 entities—organizations, individuals and nearly 5,000 farmers across the country—to defend Proposition 12 and other state and local animal welfare laws. The fight will continue into the new year, so if you haven’t already, we encourage you to reach out to your legislator and urge them to oppose the Proposition 12 "fix."
