Pru Elliott
Looking back on a successful week driving progress for broiler chickens.
What a week it has been for animals. In the UK, 95% of all farmed land animals are chickens raised for meat. That amounts to over one billion individuals. What's more, the vast majority of them live out their short, miserable lives on intensive farms.
Not only are their surroundings highly unpleasant, resting on dirty litter and crammed into very little space, they are born into bodies which have been designed purely to produce as much meat as possible. Their suffering is unthinkable.
That's why it is so important to reform the way chickens are treated. And that's just what we're doing. We've come together with other leading animal protection groups to push for a ground-breaking set of standards which will drastically improve the lives of chickens: the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC).
This week, as a result of our work, three things happened in very quick succession. First, following discussions with our Corporate Relations department, the company which owns Zizzi, Ask Italian and Coco Di Mama became the first restaurant group in the UK and EU to commit to the BCC.
Then 2 Sisters Food Group, the UK's leading producer of chicken, agreed with us to publicly pledge to provide for any demand which meets the standards laid out in the BCC.
And finally, Pret A Manger committed to raising their standards in the UK and EU within just hours of us launching a public campaign against them, late last night.
A revolution is underway. More and more people are avoiding animal cruelty by leaving animals off their plate, and the food industry is under pressure to adopt important changes in their supply chains to alleviate animal suffering.
But this is just the beginning. We won't rest until we have changed the world for chickens, and we need your help.
If you'd like to be part of the change and help us end the suffering of animals raised for food, join our movement today.
Whether you'd like to take action online, come along to an event, volunteer or donate, your support really will make a difference to the lives of animals.
