Farm Animal Voice 193 by Compassion in World Farming

Issue 193 – Spring 2015

THE HIDDEN CRUELTY

Europe’s live exports

CAGED IN BRITAIN Why the UK must end the cage age

THE FARMER WHO REFUSED TO BE SILENT One man’s actions challenge factory farming in the USA

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farm animal voice contents

update 4 News update 12 The Hidden Cruelty Why Europe must end the live export trade to non-EU countries 14 Farmageddon – The Next Chapter The debate on humane, sustainable food goes global insight 6 Caged in Britain The truth about British caged farming 18 Signs of Progress in the Food Industry Compassion – the go-to experts on farm animal welfare

inspiration 20 The Farmer Who Refused To Be Silenced Compassion shakes up the US chicken industry ACTION 8 End the Cage Age Shining a light on rabbits – the forgotten farm animals 10 UK General Election It’s time to put farm animal welfare policies in place 17 Spread the Word Your legacy can change the world 22 Fundraising for Compassion Actions are greater than words – how to be Compassion Champion!

Editor Richard Brooks Production manager Sarah Bryan Design Neo – weareneo.com Farm Animal Voice Compassion in World Farming, River Court, Mill Lane, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 1EZ, UK Enquiries Tel +44 (0) 1483 521 950 (lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm) Email supporters@ciwf.org Compassion in World Farming is a registered charity (England and Wales), registered number 1095050. Our Patrons Jilly Cooper OBE, Peter Egan, Princess Alia Al Hussein of Jordan, Dame Penelope Keith DBE, Bruce Kent, Joanna Lumley OBE, Sir Peter O’Sullevan CBE, Jonathon Porritt CBE, Sir Crispin Tickell GCMG KCVO Front cover: iStock by Getty

10 NO ANIMAL ENDS UP IN A CAGE BY ACCIDENT

Illustration © Anita Jeram for CIWF

welcome

elcome to your spring 2015 issue of Farm Animal Voice – the magazine that reports back on how every penny you give, and every action you take, really is making a difference to so many lives.

A huge thank you to Anita Jeram, illustrator of best-selling children’s book Guess How Much I Love You, who has joined our End the Cage Age campaign. The illustrations you see throughout this issue of Farm Animal Voice were drawn exclusively for Compassion in World Farming.

No one else does what we do, nor how we do it. Together, we are tackling farm animal cruelty across borders, across the world: from the UK and Europe to China and the USA.

Here at Compassion, we believe that each generation must decide what cruelty and injustice it will no longer tolerate. Thank you for being part of the generation that chooses to take a stand against factory farming. We couldn’t do it without you.

Our book, Farmageddon – Compassion’s investigative journey into the true cost of cheap meat – is now in its 6th print run and has already been published in the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand and South Africa. And it’s soon to be on the shelves of book shops in Poland, Taiwan and the Czech Republic. Thanks to you, our powerful story has gone truly global (see page 14).

Thank you.

As our campaign to End the Cage Age gathers pace, we take a closer look at the sad truth of caged farming in the United Kingdom and how the UK General Election should provide the opportunity for all political parties to get serious about farm animal welfare (pages 6-11).

Philip Lymbery, Chief Executive My personal blog is available at: philiplymbery.com or you can follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/philip_ciwf

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BRITISH MPS DEBATE NON-STUN SLAUGHTER

We are pleased that the spotlight is back on slaughter without stunning. On 23rd February, MPs debated non-stun slaughter in response to a petition started by the British Veterinary Association (BVA), signed by more than 100,000 people. EU and UK law requires all animals to be stunned before slaughter, so that they don’t feel pain when they are killed. However, there is an exemption that allows slaughter without stunning for certain communities.

Animals slaughtered for halal or kosher meat are allowed to be slaughtered without being stunned. Several MPs expressed their support to stop slaughter without stunning. George Eustice MP said he would pick up on a few of the issues highlighted. We will continue to urge the government to finally take decisive action to end such completely unnecessary cruelty.

EXPERTS IN THE FIELD – FUNDED BY YOU We are delighted to announce that Compassion’s Food Business Manager, Vicky Bond, has been nominated as a finalist for the Ceva Awards for Animal Welfare. The ‘Farm Animal Welfare of the Year Award’ is presented to a person who encourages high standards of ethical and compassionate farm animal welfare through direct action and education. We all have our fingers crossed that Vicky takes home the top prize on the 8th April! For the very first time, French Food Business Manager, Amélie Legrand, was invited to participate in a conference debate at the international SPACE conference in France. SPACE is the second most important fair of animal production worldwide.

Save the planet: Eat less meat Good news from the United States, where a group of expert advisors has just submitted its latest dietary advice to government, including recommendations to eat less meat.

legumes, nuts, seeds; plus lower in calories and animal-based foods are more health promoting and are associated with less environmental impact than is the current U.S. diet.”

The Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee advises eating less red and processed meat for health reasons and says switching to a diet higher in “plant-based foods such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains,

In other words, eat less meat for your own health and for the sake of our planet. Eating less but better meat, looking out for pasture raised, free-range, organic labels means that everyone can be part of the solution to factory farming.

Team compassion is growing High profile and influential individuals all over the world are lending their support to our campaigns. They are standing shoulder-to-shoulder with you, spreading the word and encouraging thousands of others to join the fight against cruel factory farming.

This gave Compassion the opportunity to put forward our arguments for advancing pig welfare in France – a challenging market – to meet the growing consumer demand for high quality, ethical and sustainable food.

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WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES Looking back at some of the progress we made together in 2014. THE END OF THE BARREN BATTERY CAGE FOR HENS IN EUROPE

APPALLING KARANTINA SLAUGHTERHOUSE SHUT DOWN

We fought long and hard to get rid of the barren battery cage in Europe. We asked for your help to hold lawbreaking nations to account. More than 50,000 of our supporters took action and as a result 27 out of 28 EU countries have now got rid of these cruel cages.

We exposed the horrific treatment of animals at Karantina slaughterhouse in Lebanon. More than 130,000 of our supporters took action to shut this abattoir down. We continue to work with the authorities in Lebanon to secure lasting change to slaughter practices in the country.

REACHING 10 MILLION PEOPLE

THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE CAGE AGE...

We didn’t allow our ban from advertising on British TV to silence us. We were determined to make a film that would shake the foundations of factory farming. More than 10 million people have now watched The Secrets of Food Marketing online. A BETTER LIFE FOR MORE THAN 287 MILLION ANIMALS

Our Food Business team works with leading food companies across Europe and beyond, encouraging them to commit to better farm animal welfare. More than 287 million farm animals are set to benefit each year thanks to the policies of all our Good Farm Animal Welfare Award winners.

Our most ambitious campaign yet, to end the use of all cages in Europe’s farms, got off to a flying start. Over 160,000 people watched our campaign film, Time to Decide. And our team is already making headway with international companies who can make a huge difference. German wholesaler, BreFood, has moved ALL the rabbits produced for meat in its supply chain from cages into open pens – benefitting over 1.2 million animals a year!

national TV stations, made the pages of over 100 news websites, magazines and newspapers, and culminated in the presentation to the EU Parliament of a petition calling for honest labelling of chicken meat signed by 85,000 EU citizens. Making a difference in China: home to half the world’s pigs

China is home to 680 million pigs and is seeing an explosion in intensive pig farming. We have been working with a group of pioneering Chinese famers to help them adopt higher welfare standards, such as introducing alternatives to caged systems like sow stalls where pigs can’t even turn around. The work we have done this year will improve the lives of 750,000 pigs every year. It is an incredibly important start, which, with the help of our amazing supporters, we intend to build on in 2015.

Honest food labelling on the agenda in Europe

Our Labelling Matters mascot, Rosa the chicken, undertook a 39-day, 21-country journey, rallying support for clear and honest labelling of chicken meat across Europe. This incredible journey featured on

RECOMMENDED READ: Sentience and Animal Welfare Was it his speech at Compassion’s 2005 conference on animal sentience which inspired Professor Donald Broom to write this thought-provoking and concise book about animal sentience? Although written strictly in scientific (but easily understood) terms, Professor Broom is not afraid to challenge the status quo: “The prejudices of those in the academic

community may well be the reason why many scientists are not willing to say that non-human animals can be conscious, aware or have feelings.” Being a Professor Emeritus of Cambridge University and a leading champion of animal welfare on a host of European Committees, means that Professor Broom’s book comes with his own excellent pedigree.

We recommend this book to all readers who want to strengthen their own arguments when discussing the issue of the sentience of animals, their place in our lives and on our planet. The paperback issue is available to buy with an online discount at www.cabi.org/bookshop

INSIGHT

caged IN BRITAIN The UK compares well to many of its European neighbours on its record for farmed animal welfare. The British Isles are home to many farmers who take the wellbeing of their animals extremely seriously. But in the words of our late founder, and dairy farmer, Peter Roberts: “There is still so much more to do”.

a nest from a range of different materials she has spent hours foraging for.

erhaps surprisingly, cages are still very much a part of British farming: enriched cages for egg laying hens and farrowing crates for mother pigs and their new-born piglets are two examples.

THE TRUTH ABOUT BRITISH CAGED EGG FARMING The ‘enriched colony cage’ is a supposed industry advance on the barren cages that were banned across the European Union in 2012. But from a hen’s perspective, there isn’t that much in it. She will typically be deprived of natural light and fresh air. She will have just slightly more space than in a barren cage, but with access to a dark nesting area, a perch and a scratching pad. There will be between 60 to 80 other hens crammed in with her – all competing for space.

END THE CAGE AGE Around 50% of British egg production uses the ‘enriched colony cage’. *

Source: Defra, 2015

THE TRUTH ABOUT BRITISH INTENSIVE PIG FARMING

In the wild, she would roam up to 2km to find the ideal nesting site for her and her litter, then spend 2-3 days making

A NATION OF ANIMAL LOVERS? A cage is a cage, there’s no escaping this fact. Farm cages are cruel and unnecessary and there should be no place for them, not in the UK, not anywhere.

To stop her harming her cage-mates in frustration, part of her beak will have been painfully removed soon after hatching. Her feet will hurt from standing on wire floors. Her mental wellbeing will be poor.

Instead of being free to perform an elaborate range of nesting behaviours as she prepares to give birth (farrow), a sow is placed in a farrowing crate where she can do nothing but lie down and stand up. Not even turn round.

A confined pregnant sow is likely to suffer a delayed labour, with a higher proportion of still-births. She cannot bond properly with those piglets that do survive. With a depressed appetite brought on by her confinement, some sows eat less and produce less milk. Her piglets may fail to thrive and in her frustration she may try to savage them. As the piglets grow older, there is no escape from their excessive demands until they are weaned at 21-28 days old, depending on the system the farm uses.

END THE CAGE AGE Around 60% of British sows are confined in farrowing crates each year. **

Source: BPEX, 2014

Norway and Switzerland have already banned the farrowing crate for pigs, while Sweden allows its use for one week only. Austria, Germany and Belgium are planning to outlaw all caged egg farming. At the time of writing, the UK government currently has no plans to ban the farrowing crate or the enriched cage for egg laying hens. This is simply not good enough. Turn to our Campaigners’ Corner on page 22 to find out how you can challenge UK politicians to take farm animal welfare seriously.

20 MILLION The number of British laying hens that will spend most of their lives in ‘enriched’ cages each year*.

BRITISH CAGED FARMING – THE FACTS

250 THOUSAND The number of British pigs that will suffer extreme confinement behind bars – for up to five weeks at a time, twice a year**.

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Action

NO ANIMAL ENDS UP IN A CAGE BY ACCIDENT Over 330 million rabbits are farmed for meat every year in the European Union. And a whopping 99% of these animals spend their entire lives confined in cages. Rabbits are one of the forgotten farm animals, but with your support, we are determined to change this.

Thanks to our generous supporters, Compassion in World Farming has been able to ramp-up our boldest ever campaign. End the Cage Age has a simple aim: an end to caged farming across an entire continent. We want all of Europe to shout out one simple message: “No to Cage Cruelty”.

PUBLIC AWARENESS: Celebrities such as Stephen Fry, Paul O’Grady, Toyah Wilcox and Kate Nash are backing the campaign, spreading the word to legions of fans and followers. Harry Potter star, Evanna Lynch (pictured below), who played Luna Lovegood, recently joined our campaign and is now actively encouraging others to join our movement. We are hugely grateful to everyone who is supporting Compassion’s campaign to stop caged animal farming.

THANKS TO YOU WE ARE ALREADY MAKING PROGRESS NEWS HEADLINES: Our hard-hitting rabbit farm investigations were so alarming that they received media coverage in some of the most widely read newspapers throughout Europe, including The Sunday Times and Daily Mail in the UK, Le Monde and Le Midi Libre in France, Le Republica and Corriere della Serra in Italy.

POLITICAL PROGRESS: Politicians were so appalled by the conditions exposed in our rabbit farm investigations that questions have already been tabled in the UK and European Parliaments.

Harry Potter stars Robbie Jarvis and Evanna Lynch show their support for Ending the Cage Age.

END THE CAGE AGE

PUBLIC ACTION:

END THE CAGE AGE

Over 200,840 people have now signed our petition calling for specific legislation to protect the welfare of Europe’s farmed rabbits.

Ending the Cage Age is not going to be easy – each and every animal that spends its life in a cage is placed there intentionally. The culture of caged farming is ingrained in our broken food system. With your ongoing belief and support we will continue exposing the unsavoury truth through ground-breaking international investigations and research. We must reach out and mobilise vast numbers of people across Europe to maintain pressure on our elected officials until they act.

FOOD INDUSTRY ACTION: We have launched our NEW Good Rabbit Award programme to encourage urgent industry action. We will publically recognise those retailers and producers that are making rabbit welfare a priority at our Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards later this year in June. Rapid, positive progress is already being made: major German wholesaler BreFood has moved ALL the rabbits produced for meat in its supply chain from cages into open pens – benefitting over 1.2 million animals a year.

With your backing, we will be taking this vital campaign to the streets to spread the word far and wide. Keep your eyes peeled for more information about these events and how you can get involved. You are part of a growing citizen movement that our politicians and the food industry cannot ignore. Together, we will End the Cage Age. Thank you.

ACTION If you haven’t already done so then please sign our petition at ciwf.org.uk/cages or fill in the postcard enclosed in this magazine and return to us as soon as you can. There’s even space on the postcard for some of your friends and family to sign the petition too!

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ACT I O N

A VOTE TO END

FACTORY FARMING? As election fever descends on the UK, it is more essential than ever that the next British government takes a strong lead, both at home and in Europe, to ensure that farm animal welfare is a priority issue.

ompassion has been meeting with all the main parties to present our own set of policy initiatives – for a food and farming system that cares for animals, people and the planet. Times are tough in political campaigning. The new UK lobbying act leaves charities such as us feeling anxious about making statements that could be mistakenly construed as party political, and potentially suffering sanctions as a result.

However, we will not be silenced. We have scoured the main party manifestos and policies to decipher each party’s commitments on food and farming policy. We have also written to each party asking them their specific position on our campaign to End the Cage Age. You can see the main parties’ responses to our questions at ciwf.org.uk/GE2015

IT IS TIME TO DECIDE. What you can do today You can help us to convince every party of the importance of ending factory farming. We need you to write to political party headquarters, urging them to change our broken food system. Simply get in touch and we will send you a pack of information, including key policy points, to get started. Call us: 01483 521953 (lines are open 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday) Email us: supporters@ciwf.org

We are grateful to all our supporters who are committed to getting farm animal welfare on the political agenda.

Web: ciwf.org.uk/get-involved

DOWN TO EARTH: OUR CHARTER FOR A CARING FOOD POLICY We call on all parties and policy makers to: Phase out cruel factory farming systems including cages and crates and replace them with pasture and land-based farming of animals to high standards of animal welfare Reduce the amount of human-edible crops that are currently used to feed farm animals Ensure subsidies and tax measures support a move to pasture and land-based animal farming Ensure public procurement only uses meat, milk and eggs that have been produced humanely and sustainably End the routine preventative use of antibiotics to suppress the diseases that are inevitable when animals are kept in crowded, stressful conditions Introduce mandatory labelling of meat and dairy products as to farming method End meat waste.

ÂŠ iStockphoto

A full copy of Compassionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Down to Earth Charter is available to download from ciwf.org.uk/charter

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THE HARDEST FIGHT? Of all the areas we work on, there is no doubt that protecting animals from cruel long distance transport and slaughter is one of the hardest. For our dedicated team that campaigns on these issues, it is personally distressing and progress can be painfully slow. However, thanks to your support, we will never give up and are making real progress. LATEST INVESTIGATION EXPOSES HIDDEN TRADE

EUROPE’S POLITICIANS SIGN UP

GOOD NEWS FROM LEBANON

Compassion’s latest investigation into long distance transport, funded by you, is helping to reveal a horrendous hidden trade in farm animals. Our Investigation Unit discovered that European animals were being exported out of the EU and then ‘re-exported’ into areas of conflict. We tracked European animals entering war-torn Gaza and our team documented their pitiful lives as they were sent to run-down fattening farms and an appalling slaughterhouse. Their treatment was brutal and the findings were hard to stomach. It is unbelievable that the European Commission still allows animals to be exported beyond the protection of EU animal welfare law.

Compassion recently drew an audience of hundreds when we staged a three-day exposé of live exports in the European Commission, Brussels (pictured below). In the face of the tragic findings of our investigations, 59 MEPs from across Europe signed up in support of a ban on exporting live farm animals from the EU.

Following the closure of the notorious Karantina slaughterhouse, we are also delighted to report that, on February 4th, the Council of Ministers in Lebanon approved the country’s first ever animal welfare law. The campaign for this new legislation has been spearheaded by animal protection group Animals Lebanon and we are encouraged to see that the law is set to include regulations on the transport and slaughter of farmed animals. Compassion’s Campaigns Officer Pru Elliot says: “This is something we’ve been calling on the Lebanese Government to address since our shocking investigation into the brutal slaughter at the Karantina slaughterhouse in Beirut in 2013.”

The good news is that, with your support, this footage could be the wake-up call Europe needs to end such suffering.

SPEAKING OUT AGAINST UK LIVE EXPORTS

To view and share the footage, or sign the petition to end this trade, visit ciwf.org/export-secrets

Compassion’s Director of Campaigns, Dil Peeling, was privileged to speak out against live farm animal

exports at a rally in Ramsgate, UK on November 29th. There was a fantastic turn out for the KAALE event, which also featured speakers from the RSPCA and The Green Party. Dil thanked the dedicated activists in Kent who give up so much of their time to be there for animals facing export.

RELIGIOUS SLAUGHTER FESTIVAL REDUCED BY 75% If you ever need evidence that you can make a difference to farm animals, here it is. 172,328 supporters spoke out against the Nepalese slaughter festival, Gadhimai. Your campaigning achieved its first objective: the Nepalese Government did not give any official funding to the festival. And, whilst the inhumane slaughter did go ahead, the number of animals involved was vastly reduced – by a massive 75%. Together we made a real difference. Thank you for fighting to end long distance live transport and inhumane slaughter. Life by life, you really are changing the world.

TAKE ACTION Our friends, Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN) will be peacefully protesting against live exports from Ireland on May 27th, and would love you to join them! Join them from noon to 2pm at the Department of Agriculture, Kildare Street, Dublin 1. For more details, please contact John at ARAN on 0872391646.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH We handed a petition of 320,275 of your signatures to the European Commission on 3rd March, to demand urgent action on foie gras. Along with our partners at Peta, French group L214 and German organisation the Albert Schweitzer Foundation, we took your signatures to European Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis. We were joined by several members of the European Parliament, including David Martin, MEP for Scotland. The Commission’s own Directive says that “no animal shall be provided with food or liquid in a manner…which may cause unnecessary suffering or injury”. So the force-feeding used in foie gras production is, in our view, clearly illegal – but it is still widely practised. Your signatures have helped strengthen our voice to the Commission. Peter Stevenson, our chief policy advisor, says: “We’ve given the Commission a wealth of scientific evidence, detailed briefings and formal complaints on the illegality of foie gras production. The response has been pathetic. Enough is enough. We need action now”.

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YOUR POWERFUL STORY HAS GONE TRULY GLOBAL.

Farmageddon – Compassion’s investigative journey into the true cost of cheap meat – is now in its 6th print run and has already been published in the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand and South Africa. And it’s soon to be on the shelves of book shops in Poland, Taiwan and the Czech Republic. You made this possible. THANK YOU!

U PDAT E

FARMAGEDDON

A GLOBAL WAKE-UP CALL With your backing, we continue to tell the world about the damage factory farming does to the environment and to people, as well as to animals. We firmly believe that the greatest progress for farm animal welfare will come about when the world wakes up to the fact that factory farming is not just inhumane, but inefficient, unsustainable and a completely crazy way to produce food.

hanks to you, the truth about the cruelty and stupidity of factory farming is being told worldwide.

Farmageddon, the true cost of cheap meat, the book written by Compassion CEO Philip Lymbery with political journalist Isabel Oakeshott, has sold extremely well since its publication in January 2014. All the book’s royalties have been re-invested in Compassion’s ongoing work, so thank you to everyone who has helped make the book such a success. The book’s release in the UK, the US, Canada, South Africa and Australia, led to wave of publicity, enabling us to tell millions of people what you already know: that factory farming is a disaster for people, planet and animals. Hot off the back of a gruelling 40-date global Farmageddon speaking tour, this year kicked off with Philip in the lion’s den at the Oxford Farming Conference in January. There he proposed the motion “This house believes that intensive agriculture is no longer sustainable” in the prestigious Oxford Union Debate. The conference, which is an annual event for the farming industry in the UK, is not the natural place for voices that challenge the current system, and so it proved, as the motion was defeated. However, his points were well received – with almost a quarter backing the call for radical change to the way we feed the world.

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The push for greater intensification – threatening to take Britain’s farming way beyond the brink of sustainability – is based on the myth that we need to ramp up food production. The reality is that we already produce enough food to feed everyone on the planet now and into the future, if only we didn’t waste more than half of it. The biggest form of food waste is in feeding human-edible grain to intensively reared animals. The time to take a different path is now while we still have a choice.

❞ Philip Lymbery, Chief Executive

Guardian journalist and environmental campaigner, George Monbiot, also took to the floor as a guest speaker at the conference and joined us in challenging the current food system.

It doesn’t stop there. This year sees the release of the pocket-sized paperback edition of Farmageddon in the UK; and will also see our campaign spread further around the globe. The success of the book and its message is hugely encouraging, but this is just the start of a new phase in our campaign. Together, we will end factory farming and create a world where everyone, rich or poor, has the right to decent food, produced humanely. Thank you for coming with us.

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ACT I O N

STEPPING BACK FROM THE BRINK

ANTIBIOTICS IN AGRICULTURE

Human health is being put at risk by intensive livestock farming systems – which rely on routinely giving animals antibiotics, often when no disease is present, just to ensure they survive the squalid, overcrowded, and stressful conditions in which they are kept.

3.5X

HIGHER

The use of antibiotics in British poultry and pigs is now at least 3.5 times higher per unit of livestock than it is in the Netherlands and at least 4 times higher than Denmark.

he World Health Organization’s 2014 report on antimicrobial resistance revealed that antibiotic resistance is no longer simply a prediction for the future; it is happening right now, across the world, and is putting at risk mankind’s ability to treat common infections. Compassion in World Farming is a founding member of the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics – a group of medical, environmental and animal welfare organisations working to stop the over-use of antibiotics in farming. Whilst some European countries are taking urgent action to dramatically reduce farm antibiotic use, others continue to avoid tackling the irresponsible use of these precious medicines.

Farm use of critically important antibiotics is rising while medical use is reducing.

45%

Animals account for about 45% of antibiotic u se in the UK. At least 4 times higher than Denmark.

❝ It goes without saying that animal husbandry and agricultural practices should be conducted in a manner that doesn’t endanger human health.

❞ Pernilla Ivarsson, Deputy Director General at the Ministry for Rural Affairs, Sweden

5000 DEATHS

There are already concerns that antibiotic resistant E.coli from farm animals are contributing to the 5000 deaths a year in England alone from resistant bloodstream infections.

In 2014, our Alliance joined forces with Medact and the UK’s Royal Society of Medicine to bring together experts from across Europe to discuss ways to avert this catastrophic threat to human health. Following our campaigning, we are finally starting to see positive changes in government positions on the use of antibiotics in farming. Because of your support, and the backing of funders such as the Jeremy Coller Foundation, The A Team Foundation and the JMG Foundation, the world is waking up to the fact that vital antibiotics are being exploited simply to prop up cruel factory farming. Thank you.

ACT I O N

Spread the word change the world Do you know anyone else who wants to make a lasting difference in the lives of animals? Do you – or could you – generously volunteer your time to raise awareness of farm animal welfare?

f so, we’d be delighted if you could spread the word about a very special way of giving.

With your help, more people can discover the wonderful legacy they can leave with a gift in their Will to Compassion in World Farming. It’s so easy to get involved, and you could make a huge impact on the lives of farm animals. In the coming decades, gifts in Wills are going to be key to bringing compassion to every nation, food company, farm and kitchen table. They are also a meaningful way for people to express their personal opposition to the misery of factory farming – and their belief that living creatures deserve better. We have a little booklet which tells you all you need to know about talking about gifts in Wills.

❝

By remembering Compassion in our Wills, we can leave behind us a legacy that can look after the way that creatures are farmed in the future.

We’ll also send a short DVD film for you to share. In this new film, Joanna Lumley explains how leaving a legacy can improve the lives of farm animals into the future. The booklet and DVD show that whatever you do for Compassion, spreading the word about gifts in Wills can be a part of it.

❞

Joanna Lumley, Actor, Activist and Compassion in World Farming Patron

Can you help tell people about gifts in Wills? If you would like to receive our handy information pack and start spreading the word about legacies, or if you have any questions or ideas about how you can help, please contact Hannah Child on 01483 521 953 or legacy@ciwf.org.uk Thank you. 17

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INSIGHT

THE BOTTOM LINE MATTERS Because of your support, Compassion’s impact on the food industry continues to grow. Our expert team is increasingly in demand from major companies wanting to place farm animal welfare at the heart of their business. The result? Millions and millions of animals are living better lives each and every year. SHIFTING POLICY THROUGH COMPANY TRANSPARENCY

TALKING UP PIG WELFARE IN DENMARK

We’ve just seen the launch of the third Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare, which ranks the world’s leading food companies on how well they are reporting their policies and approach on farm animal welfare.

Compassion’s Food Business Manager, Vicky Bond, was recently asked to speak about higher welfare pig production at the Herning Congress in Denmark, the landmark conference for the Danish pig industry.

Eighty companies were assessed and ranked from Tier 1 – indicating companies are taking a leadership position on publishing animal welfare policies; down to Tier 6 – where animal welfare does not appear to be on their business agenda (see the diagram opposite).

This opportunity arose following our work with Danish Crown brands Antonius and Den Go’eGris who were awarded a Good Sow Commendation by Compassion. The conference gave us a great platform to talk directly to Danish farmers, industry executives and politicians on how to tackle welfare issues in pig production, which is typically intensive in Denmark.

The encouraging news is that we are already seeing movement. Over the past year, 15 of the previously benchmarked companies – including major brands such as Heinz, McDonald’s and Tesco – have now improved their ranking. Waitrose climbed two places from Tier 3 this year to join M&S and Coop Group (Switzerland) who have retained their Tier 1 position. Still in its early days, the Benchmark is already becoming a strong tool for change in the food industry.

MAKING A STAND One of our award winners, Chipotle Mexican Grill’s ‘food with integrity’ programme focuses on using higher welfare produce and antibioticfree meats. The company recently suspended purchases from a pork producer in the US that fell foul of its animal welfare rules. This shows that there are food companies out there that take farm animal welfare so seriously that they are willing to make firm business decisions to protect their higher welfare supply chain.

Thanks to your support, Compassion’s reach and partnerships are growing ever-stronger, helping to ensure animal welfare stays on the business agenda across the food industry.

INSIGHT

SUMMARY OF 2014: BUSINESS BENCHMARK RANKINGS

The Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW) is designed to help drive higher farm animal welfare standards in the world’s leading food businesses. The Benchmark is supported by Compassion in World Farming, World Animal Protection and global investor Coller Capital. Compassion’s involvement in the BBFAW is kindly supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. For more information, please visit BBFAW.com

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ins p i r a t i o n

– THE WHISTLEBLOWER –

CRAIG WATTS

US CHICKEN FARMER

❝ If [the system] is going to be changed, it is going to be changed from the inside.

❞ This story of courage appeared in media across the world, including:

ins p i r a t i o n

THE FARMER WHO REFUSED TO BE SILENCED Last year, Leah Garcès, Director of Compassion in World Farming USA, was invited by a commercial chicken farmer named Craig Watts to film him and his intensive chicken farm in South Carolina. He wanted Compassion to help him expose the truth behind America’s meat chicken industry. Now, following a groundbreaking exposé in the US media, he is suing the company behind his business. Leah Garcès reports.

raig Watts lives in a small town in South Carolina and, for more than 20 years, he has raised broiler chickens for the huge American chicken producer, Perdue Farms.

Craig has revealed a truth that the meat chicken industry refuses to acknowledge: Americans don’t want factory farmed chickens. And they certainly don’t want the USDA to put a stamp on it calling it “humane”.

He went into chicken farming because, where he lives, there were not many alternatives to make a living. After college, he began working as a field technician for an agricultural-chemicals company. When a representative from Perdue Farms came calling, showing spreadsheets of how lucrative chicken farming might be, Craig decided to give it a try.

Hours after the film’s release, Perdue turned up at Craig’s farm to conduct a surprise animal welfare audit – the first he had ever received in his 22 years of raising chickens! In the weeks that followed, Craig had 23 visits from Perdue in total. The industry attempted to blame Craig for ‘poor management’, but it backfired. They failed to check Craig’s history and records. Not only are the conditions of Craig’s farm within industry norms, but he has been awarded and recognised by Perdue as one of the firm’s top producers.

To begin with, Craig’s farm worked for him. But over the years, the economic pressure imposed on Perdue’s contract farmers to raise more birds for less money started to take its toll. Craig grew increasingly uncomfortable with how such intensive farming was affecting the chickens in his care.

Following the media story, over 30,000 emails were sent by consumers to supermarkets across the country asking for better treatment of chickens. Letters of encouragement poured into Compassion’s office, thanking Craig for his efforts and hoping other farmers might do the same.

By late 2014, he’d had enough. Together with Compassion in World Farming, he released a powerful film that gave the American public a unique view into the secretive world of the US chicken industry.

Craig Watts has risked everything to tell this story. He had nothing to gain, and everything to lose. Instead of condemning Craig, the industry could learn from his courage.

He revealed what the National Chicken Council (NCC), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Perdue mean when they say ‘humanely raised’ and ‘cage-free’: 30,000 chickens stuffed into a windowless warehouse, on faeces-ridden litter, bred to grow so big, so quickly they can hardly stand on their own two legs.

On Thursday 19th February 2015, Craig filed a lawsuit accusing Perdue Farms of intimidation after he publicised animal welfare concerns. He is now receiving pro bono legal counsel from the Government Accountability Project. We will keep you updated on what happens next.

American consumers were outraged. Over half a million people viewed the video in the first 24 hours. Media coverage was widespread, led by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof’s hard-hitting piece. Perdue’s Facebook page was inundated with fuming customers who felt betrayed.

You can see the film for yourself at ciwf.org/craig Helping brave people like Craig lift the lid on the reality of factory farming is just one of the amazing things that donations to Compassion make possible. Thank you.

ciwf.org

Action

BE A COMPASSION CHAMPION There are so many powerful ways to take a stand for farm animals – whether it’s from the comfort of your own home, out in your community, or by putting your best foot forward.

CAMPAIGNERS’ CORNER

the power of

WHAT IS CAMPAIGNERS’ CORNER?

HOW IT WORKS:

Campaigners’ Corner is an essential supporter-led campaign programme which enables avid writers to get campaigning at home. Complementing our online petitions, Campaigners’ Corner enables people to proactively help farm animals without the need for the internet.

1. G et in touch using the details opposite to request your pack. We will then send you all the information you need within a few days.

Compassion relies on the group’s 300 members to help show politicians, decision-makers and companies that farm animals matter. We would love more people to join and ensure our campaigns have an even bigger impact. Right now, we are working together to challenge UK politicians to take farm animal welfare seriously – in this, the UK’s election year.

Joining Campaigners’ Corner is as easy as 1, 2, 3!

2. C ompile your campaigning letters, and send them off to the addresses provided. 3. S end us any responses you receive, so we can keep track of which parties are sympathetic to our cause.

Maggie C. MBE is one of our incredibly dedicated and inspirational supporters. Having supported Compassion for decades, she is a group leader and a tenacious campaigner, and has recently been battling against the extension of a mega-dairy local to her in Pembrokeshire. Maggie’s determination to improve the welfare of animals comes from her upbringing in a farming family: “I believe that cows deserve, and indeed need, to graze in fields. Proactive, concerned people can and do make a difference. I have found that writing articles and letters has been an effective means toward raising awareness and challenging the industrialisation of farming. Vigilance and action at local level is vital when faced with any outrageous developments. The simple act of objecting – a letter or an email – will, at the very least, alert the recipients that there are concerns that need acknowledging and ultimately, addressing.“

WHY SHOULD I JOIN NOW? The current issue of Campaigners’ Corner is a rather extraordinary one, as it’s our first ever election special! We need you to write to political party headquarters, urging them to change our broken food system. We will provide you with our policy points, which you can send on to the parties, requesting that they take action to change our broken food system.

compaigning

Jean Lambert MEP attended our live exports exhibition (as seen on page 12) at the European Parliament after receiving letters from Campaigners’ Corner members.

Maggie’s story shows how vital local campaigning is. If you’ve been inspired, don’t hesitate – get in touch with us today and help achieve even more for farm animals!

Action

Join the team and Walk with Compassion!

WALK WITH COMPASSION The weather is finally warming-up and it’s time for people and pets to unite for Walk with Compassion! As in previous years, the Compassion team will be meeting in Guildford, Surrey, for a 10km walk (or run!) on Sunday 10th May. We’d love you to join us. But don’t let location stop you from taking part – you can get walking anywhere you like! Just get in touch and we’ll be delighted to send you further details. If you would like to join us or organise your own walk, find out more at ciwf.org/walk

Motcomb Street, London, SW1X 8JU and via thevoiceofracing.com The book is also available to buy from Amazon and royalties will go to The Sir Peter O’Sullevan Charitable Trust, and so to the charities it supports.

MARK’S MARVELLOUS MARATHONS Our supporters never cease to amaze us with their passion and dedication to ending factory farming – particularly when coming up with cunning plans to raise vital funds.

THANK YOU Sir Peter O’Sullevan’s Charitable Trust raises invaluable funds every year for six animal welfare organisations, including Compassion. The new edition of Sir Peter’s autobiography, Calling the Horses, now includes an annex written by Compassion’s very own Ambassador, Joyce D’Silva. He writes that Compassion “has a special place in my heart”. And he in ours! Sir Peter is selling signed copies to raise funds for his chosen six charities. They are available to buy at the Osborne Studio, Gallery 2,

can’t wait to cheer him across the finish line. If you’re as impressed with Mark’s challenge as we are, please consider sponsoring him by calling Compassion or going online to Mark’s fundraising page via ciwf.org/mark

GET IN TOUCH If you would like to support Compassion in any of the ways mentioned on these pages, or you have fundraising ideas of your own, our Supporter Engagement Team is here to help! WRITE: Compassion in World Farming, River Court, Mill Lane, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 1EZ, UK

Mark training for the first of five marathons for Compassion

Mark Herbert is no exception; he has set himself the outstanding challenge of running FIVE marathons in FIVE weeks! He’s kicking off with none other than the London Marathon on 26th April and we

TEL: + 44 (0) 1483 521 953 (lines are open 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday) EMAIL: supporters@ciwf.org WEB: ciwf.org.uk/get-involved

ciwf.org

THANK YOU FOR BEING THE VOICE OF COMPASSION. WITHOUT YOU, THE TRUTH ABOUT FACTORY FARMINg CRUELTY WOULD NOT BE TOLD.

❝ Sometimes you don’t have to be an expert to know what is right or wrong. Sometimes your heart tells you, and you have to go with your instincts. Mine tell me that cage farming of rabbits is going too far.

❞ Anita Jeram, illustrator of best-selling children’s book, Guess How Much I Love You.

Compassion in World Farming, River Court, Mill Lane, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 1EZ, UK Tel: +44 (0)1483 521 953 Email: supporters@ciwf.org Web: ciwf.org.uk Compassion in World Farming is a registered charity (England and Wales), registered number 1095050.