In 2020, we will focus on expanding our cage-free work globally, while holding companies who previously made these commitments accountable. We will apply the success of our cage-free strategy to the broiler chicken industry, securing Better Chicken Commitments that will improve the lives of millions of chickens. Through it all, we will inspire more people to leave animals off their plates. While there are strategies in place to actualize these goals with our minimum budget, with additional funding, we could scale this work and implement more comprehensive strategies that could ultimately impact the lives of hundreds of millions of chickens and other animals raised for food.
We will hold companies accountable to their cage-free commitments
328 million hens are kept in tiny, barren battery cages in the U.S. every single year. Each animal endures extreme cruelty. THL, in partnership with other animal protection groups, has pressured nearly every major food company in the U.S.to phase out intensive confinement by 2026.
Additional funding will enable us to ensure companies keep their commitments through our corporate outreach, pressure campaigns, and public education campaigns. These funds will also help activate our growing volunteer base and allow us to support legislation to ensure companies comply with their commitments to egg-laying hens, as well as mother pigs and veal calves.
We will work to end intensive confinement for egg-laying hens around the world
The Open Wing Alliance (OWA) is a global coalition of more than 70 member organizations united in a common goal: to end the abuse of chickens worldwide. By providing training, support, and grants in under-resourced but high-impact areas of the world, the OWA has driven transformative progress for egg-laying hens, replicating the success of U.S. cage-free campaigns all around the world and igniting the global movement for animals. The OWA is primed to effectively expand its capacity to provide the support, resources, and training needed to ensure that our grants to other organizations succeed.
This year, THL Mexico received its official registration as a charitable organization. While awaiting its registration, our team in Mexico has been working tirelessly behind the scenes to build its network of activists, gain insider intel on the egg industry, and build a strategic and aligned coalition of organizations in the region. They are ready to hire several new team members in the next year in order to increase their impact, which includes a plan to create and leverage a chicken welfare awareness campaign to a broader audience.
With just two staff, THL Japan has secured dozens of cage-free commitments across the country through their thoughtful corporate relations work over the past two years. They are ready to expand their team to highlight the plight of animals raised for food and create institutional change in a country that is one of the largest consumers of eggs in the world.
We will fight to gain basic welfare standards for chickens raised and killed for meat
Chickens raised for meat represent the greatest number of land animals raised and killed for food. Their lives—and deaths—are full of horrific suffering. That is why THL UK is pressuring companies across Europe to sign on to the European Chicken Commitment, a comprehensive welfare policy that addresses the worst forms of suffering these animals face. Already, companies like Chipotle and KFC have signed on to the European Chicken Commitment. However, as THL UK scales its work and supports the growing number of OWA member groups around the world, and as cage-free accountability becomes a competing priority on the continent, additional staff are needed to accelerate this progress.
In the United States, more than 9 billion chickens are raised and killed for meat each year, and these animals have no meaningful legal protections. THL U.S. has established a new, organization-wide strategy to make significant progress in the campaign to improve the lives of these so called ‘broiler chickens’. This will include increasing our corporate relations work to negotiate with companies behind the scenes, running more public pressure campaigns against companies resistant to change, and promoting the Better Chicken Commitment to gain momentum in the public sphere.
We will scale our core teams to support our growing international campaigns
Several of our US-based teams are crucial to the success of our operations around the world. Our Communications, Legal, Tech, Operations, and Development teams have been operating at a deficit as we have focused our growth on programs and international development. As we expand our global reach, we must develop our essential teams to accommodate the growing number of both national and international campaigns to end the abuse of animals raised for food.
Kalista Barter
