Usually, I write about PETA taking on some company for violation of animal rights. This time, it is the U.S. Humane Society (USHS) and McDonald’s engaging in a cage match – literally.
The USHS asked McDonald’s to raise 5% of its egg-producing hens outside of battery cages. Right now, six to eight hens are confined in a cage in which each hen just 72 square inches, which means space that is smaller than the size of a 8 ½ x 11 piece of paper. The USHS pointed out that while cage-free isn’t cruelty-free, the hens do “generally have better lives.”
McDonald’s is one of the last chains to have not made the switch to cage-free hen raising. Burger King, Carl’s Jr., Denny’s, Hardee’s, Quiznos, and Wendy’s all have switched to cage-free. The European Union passed a law that will outlaw conventional battery cages in 2012.
Yet, due to what they called “not enough research,” McDonald’s has refused the USHS’s suggestion. McDonald’s may be a tough egg to crack, pardon the pun. They recently declined a request by PETA, a shareholder in the company, to enact a more humane method of slaughtering chickens.
But, it may be a move in the right direction that McDonald’s did join the Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply, which does research on cage-free housing. Others that have joined the coalition include IHOP, Bob Evans Farms, and major agricultural universities such as Michigan State.
Or, maybe it is just a way for the big chain to get some of the pressure off its back. Cage-free would cost McDonald’s more and profit it always the bottom line. If you were to go to the grocery store and purchase a dozen cage-free eggs, chances are you would pay more than twice the regular price.
I think Michael Graham Richard of Treehugger put it best when he said, “But do we really need years of studies and research to realize that cramming 6 to 8 birds in a cage that we’re probably consider too small for a pet cat isn’t humane?”
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