Petition: Revoke Foster Farms’ “Humane” Certification

It’s hard to imagine how the word “humane” can ever describe products that come from exploiting and killing animals.  This is especially true when it comes to chickens, as they remain unprotected even by minimal animal welfare laws.

Supplying cheap chicken requires genetic manipulation.  As Farm Sanctuary describes about “broiler chickens,” chickens raised for meat, “In 1925, the average commercially grown chicken took 112 days to reach a then-average market weight of 2.5 pounds; in 2019, such chickens took 47 days to reach a market weight of 6.3 pounds—more than doubling average body size in less than half the time.”  Simply raising chickens to grow obese so quickly is cruel—as is separating them from their families and slaughtering them at six weeks of age.  Egg-laying hens fare no better.  We breed them to lay so many eggs that even well-treated hens live in pain from calcium deficiencies.  Meanwhile, the male chicks, which are of no use to the egg industry and do not grow large enough to be raised and slaughtered for meat, are disposed of in “grinders” or trash bags while still alive.

Here’s the crazy part: if these practices are considered humane, Foster Farms still comes nowhere close to satisfying a “humane” treatment standard.  Among other horrifying footage, the undercover video above shows workers throwing “unviable” chickens into piles of dead ones to be crushed and suffocated.  “Humane” labeling prevents consumers from learning the truth about the products they consume and perpetuates the myth that consuming animal products can be ethical. Sign this petition protesting Foster Farms’ “humane” certification.

To continue speaking up, sign these other petitions as well:

• Pass Stricter Regulations for Live Chicken Transportation
• Tell IFC to Divest from Factory Farming

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