Another Victory Under Our Belt!
We have great news! If you live in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, or Mississippi, you’ve probably shopped at a Winn-Dixie store at least once or twice. You’ll be glad to know that following months of discussions with PETA, this grocery chain—which operates 520 stores—has agreed to make major animal welfare improvements for chickens and pigs killed for its stores. Winn-Dixie has agreed to do the following:
* Give purchasing preference to suppliers that use controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK)—the least-cruel method of bird slaughter available. By the end of 2010, the company will purchase 5 percent of its turkey meat from suppliers that use CAK.
* Give purchasing preference to suppliers that don’t use gestation crates—restrictive metal enclosures that confine pregnant pigs. The company will also increase the total amount of pig meat that it purchases from crate-free suppliers by 5 percent each of the next three years, for a total increase of 15 percent.
* Give purchasing preference to producers of cage-free eggs and increase the amount of cage-free eggs that it sells to 4 percent by the end of 2009 and 5 percent by the end of 2010. The company will also work toward increasing that amount to 10 percent within the next 5 years.
Winn-Dixie is following in the footsteps of other major grocery and restaurant companies that have recently made animal welfare improvements following discussions with PETA, including Safeway, Harris Teeter, Burger King, Carl’s Jr., and Hardee’s.
While this agreement doesn’t mean that the eggs and meat sold by Winn-Dixie—or any other company—are produced without causing animals to suffer (visit PETA’s Web site Meat.org to learn more), Winn-Dixie has begun to phase out its suppliers’ worst abuses, which is a real victory for animals.
Please use Winn-Dixie’s online customer service form to thank the company for improving the lives of animals killed for its stores.
Thank you for all that you do for animals!
Sincerely,
Brooke Jones, Activist Liaison
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Tags: go vegetarian, peta, stop animal abuse, vistory, winn-dixie
