Rabbit Advocacy Animal Matters

Tim Hortons puts more eggs in animal welfare basket 

May 4, 2012 thestar.com (Toronto) 

Canada’s largest fast food chain has toughened its stance on animal welfare issues amid growing pressure from advocacy groups and consumers. 

Tim Hortons Inc. announced Friday it would boost the number of eggs it wants to buy from farmers that use bigger, better cages for their hens.

The 4,000-plus restaurant chain also called on the pork industry to end the practice of confining pregnant sows to “gestation stalls,” saying it would give preference to suppliers who have clear plans to phase them out. “We believe there are better, more humane and sustainable housing systems that can improve the quality of animals’ lives,” said Paul House, Tim Hortons president, chief executive officer and executive chairman.

The statement comes less than a week before the company faced a shareholder resolution at its annual general meeting Thursday calling on it to toughen its stand on animal welfare.

The U.S. Humane Society, along with the Vancouver Humane Society and the consumer advocacy group SumOfUs had combined to raise awareness of the issue, collecting several tens of thousands of signatures on petitions.

“Tim Hortons’ condemnation of gestation crates today sends another signal to the pork industry that it can’t just keep confining animals in these extremely tight cages,” said Matthew Prescott, a spokesperson for the U.S. Humane Society.  About 20 per cent of Tim Hortons outlets are in the U.S., he noted.

In Canada, the leading animal welfare organization applauded Tim Hortons for taking a step toward improving animal living conditions. “It has to change. Tim Hortons is agreeing this has to change. They’re putting pressure on the suppliers to change. That’s a positive step forward,” said Barbara Cartwright, chief executive officer of the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies. “But we’d like to see the system go cage free. The U.K. has already gone cage free.”

Part of the problem in North America, she said, is suppliers were unsure consumers would be willing to pay a premium for more humane animal treatment. “That’s changing,” she said.

Also, she acknowledged there is still debate in the Canadian food industry about whether bigger better cages are sufficient to meet the animals’ welfare needs. Current “codes of practice” set out by the Canadian government are under review, she added. “They’re horrifically out of date.” About 97 per cent of egg-laying hens in North America are not in enriched housing systems, a term that refers to cages large enough that they permit natural behaviours such as nesting, scratching and perching.

On the pork side, more than 70 per cent of breeding sows in the U.S. are housed in gestation crates, while estimates are unknown for Canada as the pork industry has been downsizing over the last number of years. Tim Hortons said it was unable to set specific targets for its pork purchases because of traceability issues in the industry.

The company said it would work with its suppliers to commission scientific, fact-based animal welfare research on sustainable, humane animal housing systems. The company also plans to call for a North American-wide summit of restaurant companies interested in the humane treatment of animals.

These new initiatives build on Tim Hortons commitments earlier this year to source at least one per cent of eggs from enriched hen housing systems, and to work with the pork industry to develop long-term, realistic improvements in pork housing systems. Other fast food chains, including Burger King and McDonald’s restaurants, have committed to pressing their suppliers to meet higher animal welfare targets.

In the United States, pending approval, legislation will require the phase in of enriched hen housing over a 15 to 18-year period.

Comment: It's important to note that while these company commitments refer to US pork suppliers, the changes will impact Canadian pork producers as three-quarters of Canada's pork is exported, some of it to fast-food chains in the US.  In fact, Karl Kynoch, Chairman of Manitoba Pork stated during a CJOB radio interview last week that Manitoba's producers will have to "meet the demands or disappear."

Thanks to everyone who speaks out and takes action on behalf of the voiceless.  Whether it’s a lifestyle choice, signing petitions, sending letters, attending demonstrations – it all adds up. We have tremendous power as consumers.

May 15, 2012 Denny’s announced that it will work with its suppliers to eliminate the practice of confining pigs in gestation crates for its bacon, sausage, and other pork products. It has been working with the HSUS for over five years on animal welfare issues.

March 22, 2017 Burger King and Tim Hortons have all pledged to use only chicken that meets the welfare standards laid out by Global Animal Partnership (GAP), an international farmed animal welfare certification program. These standards will require chicken suppliers to breed only higher-welfare strains of chickens, reduce the stocking density of the birds, improve light levels and litter quality inside barns, and use controlled atmosphere stunning to render the birds unconscious before slaughter, dramatically improving slaughter methods and the birds’ living conditions.

February 14, 2019 Spartanburg, S.C. – Denny’s Corp. has updated the company’s animal welfare policy to include its commitment to serving chicken from birds raised without the use of medically important antibiotics.

Denny’s animal welfare policies: https://www.dennys.com/company/animal-welfare/          

Comment: The vast majority of animals — pigs, chickens, and cows — slaughtered for food each year suffer immensely inside factory farms. And, shockingly, these animals have virtually no legal protections whatsoever. The interests of animals must be advanced through the political & legislative process. Current laws, such as they are, do not reflect the moral values of our society.