Bruce Friedrich's statement at Safeway Shareholder Meeting

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

 

As promised, here is the statement that Bruce Friedrich of PETA delivered at

the Safeway shareholder meeting last Thursday. The statement was received by

wide applause by the shareholders. The portion that addresses our knowledge

of farmed animals and the extent to which they are subjects in their own

lives with desires and preferences and self-knowledge is quite moving.

 

Best,

Alka

 

Safeway Shareholder Victory Statement

 

Hello, my name is Bruce Friedrich, and I am here to represent People for the

Ethical Treatment of Animals. In 1991, Safeway stepped ahead of its

competitors by being the first grocery chain to take PETA's " Pledge of

Assurance, " guaranteeing that no Safeway products would be tested on

animals. Now, more than 550 corporations have promised not to test their

products on animals.

 

Today, I am also pleased to commend Safeway for being the first grocery

chain to pledge to implement humane standards for the treatment of farmed

animals. Two days ago, PETA received a promise from Safeway's vice

president for public affairs, Brian Dowling, that it would begin a plan of

unannounced audits of Seaboard Farms, the country's fourth-largest pig-meat

supplier. This plan follows a PETA undercover investigation that ended with

four felony animal abuse charges leveled against Seaboard's manager.

 

Safeway has also pledged to conduct audits of all suppliers covered under

the soon-to-be-released Food Marketing Institute animal welfare guidelines.

The corporation, to its credit, has pledged to work with any supplier that

fails an audit to improve the conditions that led to the failure and then to

conduct another unannounced audit. If the supplier fails again, it will lose

Safeway's business. Safeway has pledged to implement all guidelines within

six to 18 months. To millions of animals in distress, that wait constitutes

more than a lifetime, so I urge Safeway to move to meet the low-end estimate

of time required, but we are glad that this important step forward is being

taken.

 

Twenty years ago, scientists were still telling us that other animals don't

feel pain in the same way that humans do. Now, no reputable scientist

believes that. Everyone now understands that cattle, pigs, and chickens-all

farmed animals, in fact-feel not only pain but joy, sorrow, fear, distress,

and an array of other emotions as well, just as we do. They share these and

other capacities with us.

 

As just a few examples, among many: Scientists at the University of Guelph

have learned that pigs and chickens will choose to turn on the heat in a

cold barn if given the chance and to turn it off again when they are too

warm, and University of Bristol researchers have observed that chickens will

complete difficult mazes to reach nests instead of laying eggs on the barn

floor. Perhaps you read the recent New York Times article about the ability

of sheep to recognize the faces of 50 or more other sheep or humans from

photographs, even if they haven't seen the other sheep or humans in two

years. In Pennsylvania, a farm welfare researcher has shown that sows like

to play video games, and a researcher in Saskatchewan is studying the

complex social lives of cattle. These scientists join sanctuary owners and

many small farmers in recognizing that animals are individuals, with

feelings just like our own.

 

 

Science and understanding may have progressed, but intensive factory farming

hasn't. As Sen. Robert Byrd told the U.S. Senate late last year, " Our

inhumane treatment of livestock is becoming widespread and more and more

barbaric. " He went on to detail the suffering of pigs in tiny stalls, hens

in cages, calves in crates, and the inhumane-and inhuman-slaughter of all

these animals. Sen. Byrd stated, " These creatures feel; they know pain. They

suffer pain just as we humans suffer pain. "

 

On behalf of PETA, I want to commend Safeway for recognizing that farmed

animals have a capacity for suffering and for pledging to improve farmed

animal welfare. PETA looks forward to working with Safeway and the FMI into

the future to continue to improve the living and dying conditions for farmed

animals.

 

Thank you.