Animal-rights activists changed tactics to win more freedom for hens

Animal-rights activists changed the way the food industry treats hens by changing their tactics and strategy against the poultry industry, Karin Brulliard reports for The Washington Post. Instead of trying to liberate hens, they fought for better living conditions, using facts and figures to back up their case. (Post graphic; click on it to enlarge)

They also used "ballot measures, campaigns against companies, foodie culture and, above all, the power of the internet" to change the culture of the industry, Brulliard writes. The result is that "in the past two years, nearly 200 U.S. companies—including every major grocery and fast-food chain—that together buy half of the 7 billion eggs laid monthly have pledged to use only cage-free eggs by 2025."

"Figures are what he and other advocates use to justify their focus on the plight of egg-laying hens: Nearly all captive animals in the U.S. are used for food,"  Brulliard writes. "Nine out of 10 land animals raised to be eaten are chickens. Currently, about 90 percent of egg-laying hens are packed together in stacks of wire cages so small that they cannot spread their wings. Eliminating those cages would improve the lives of 280 million animals—while not costing consumers all that much more, proponents say."

"Activists view Sodexo’s February 2015 decision to do so in the U.S. as the catalyst," Brulliard writes. "The coup de grace came six months later with a pledge from McDonald’s, America’s largest egg buyer." (Read more)