David Coman-Hidy
Industry welfare commitments are good for animals. Here’s why.
At The Humane League, we are fully focused on ending the abuse of animals raised for food. And, we believe a world that’s free of animal abuse starts with a world that has less animal abuse. Step by step. Day by day. We push forward toward our goal.
(Updated Feb. 10, 2021)
History, and experience, shows us that big social change is a journey of small, yet meaningful, incremental steps. Ending the use of cages. Giving animals more space. Banning cruel breeding. All of these wins begin to repair the broken factory farming system, changing its malpractices into new practices until—one day—animals are no longer abused for food.
With that future in mind, we relentlessly work to make the biggest impact for animals. While we set clear strategies, we are not tied to a particular strategy or tactic. Instead, we simply put our resources toward effective actions to reduce the most suffering and grow a stronger animal protection movement.
We can and do promote veganism while fighting for better standards for animals.
Sometimes, we're asked if working to reduce animal suffering is compatible with being vegan. This is often rooted in a concern that by improving an animal's welfare, someone who is not vegan may feel reassured that they are eating an ethical product. As a result, they may be less likely to leave animals off their plate.
We believe that, far from being incompatible, the two go hand in hand. Here's why:
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Promoting veganism is important. We can—and do—promote veganism and encourage behavioral change while simultaneously fighting for better standards for animals. The two are not mutually exclusive. That's why we actively promote plant-based diets as the best way to keep animal suffering off your plate.
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As much as we might want it to, the world is not going to go vegan overnight. On an individual level, we encourage everyone to stop eating animals altogether. At the same time, we hold companies accountable and work to eliminate the worst abuses in their supply chains. We know that big social change is a journey of small yet meaningful incremental steps. We influence and campaign for this change step by step, company by company, so that we can all experience a world in which animals are no longer raised and abused for food.
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Science shows us that we can meaningfully reduce the suffering of animals by creating concrete changes on farms, including ending the use of cages, giving animals more space, ending mutilation without anesthetic, and banning the most cruel slaughter methods.
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These small changes can make a big difference to an incredibly vast number of animals, ultimately impacting the 130 billion land animals being raised for food right now. We have a very real possibility of achieving these changes. As such, we see it as a moral imperative to seize these opportunities to reduce as much animal suffering as possible.
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The moral argument for not eating animals—that we should not kill them when we can thrive without doing so—is strong enough alone. This question of morality is not dissipated by working to improve animal welfare. With this as the foundation, we believe that increasing protections for animals and building public awareness about their treatment helps our cause rather than harms it. This is evidenced by legislation that’s been enacted following corporate commitments to improve animal welfare, like Prop 12 in the US.
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All social justice movements have been journeys of incremental changes. (As Robert F. Kennedy said, "It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”) In our movement, these changes are a necessary path for the world to stop treating animals as products put on this earth for nothing more than food, fashion, research, entertainment, and—in the end—profit.
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Our emphasis on effectiveness and impactful results means that if there comes a time where these tactics prove less effective in helping animals, we will refocus our efforts and work on alternative initiatives that prove effective in reducing even more suffering and ending the abuse of animals raised for food.
Our tireless campaigning has compelled, for instance, Restaurant Brands International—whose fast-food restaurants include Burger King, Popeyes, and Tim Hortons—to commit to a global cage-free policy. The importance of this commitment cannot be overstated. Hens are highly motivated to carry out natural behaviors such as scratching the ground, foraging, and dust-bathing. In battery cages, where they have personal space roughly the size of an iPad, it's virtually impossible to do so.
As with humans in extreme confinement, this inability to behave naturally causes immense stress. Chickens' entire adult lives are spent standing on wire mesh floors that are a constant source of pain and discomfort for their feet. Beyond cages, such as in barn or free-range environments—with free-range offering the best potential for welfare out of these options—hens have more opportunity to carry out these behaviors, more freedom of movement, and more control over their choices, leading to more fulfilling lives.
It is clear to us that a world free from animal suffering starts with a world with less animal suffering.
The plight of chickens raised for meat, globally, is just as distressing as that of egg-laying hens. They are genetically selected to grow to grotesque sizes in a very short amount of time, causing an abundance of health problems such as white striping disease, ascites, and green muscle disease, as well as chronic pain. Demanding that companies implement changes allowing for more space, enrichment, natural light, and—crucially—a change from these fast-growing breeds to breeds with improved welfare, will significantly reduce the suffering of chickens.
The scale and intensity of suffering that chickens currently endure is so colossal that many other major animal protection organizations such as Animal Equality, Open Cages, and Compassion in World Farming all agree that the industry needs to work toward these incremental changes. Major commitments from Whole Foods Market, Aldi, and other retailers will positively impact millions of chickens every year.
This pragmatic approach to helping animals has resulted in hundreds of corporate commitments to meaningfully reduce the suffering in their supply chains. Once companies acknowledge that animals are sentient beings and have needs that should be met for moral reasons, there is always a case for taking more and more steps forward in that direction.
It is clear to us that a world free from animal suffering starts with a world with less animal suffering.
We hope you’ll join us, and our movement, along this journey as we rebuild our broken food system and end the abuse of animals raised for food.
