Big news: The Obama administration has proposed new rules that would dramatically strengthen the animal welfare requirements in the organic program. You can take action by letting the US Department of Ag know that it’s time to finalize these important improvements.
Assuredly you read Meat & Poultry magazine, right? But just in case you missed the new issue, it has a major feature on our battle to ban chicken cages. The article goes back to the beginning, noting that “Growing public concern accelerated in 2005 with an HSUS campaign to raise consumer awareness about the plight of caged hens.” And in a testament to the campaign’s success, the story asserts, “It’s no longer a discussion about whether to convert egg production from cage to cage-free operations, but rather when it will happen.”
There’s so much movement against cage confinement of hens in the US that for the first time, the UK animal protection movement is now calling on British companies to make the same progress for chickens that US companies are making.
Finally, if you’ve been living under a rock and missed the amazing story of Inky the Octopus’ great escape, enjoy.
Paul Shapiro
Vice President, Farm Animal Protection
The Humane Society of the United States
Follow at twitter.com/pshapiro
P.S. Video of the week: You can’t go wrong with a piglet and a kitten.