petaboy

A PETA member and Publix stockholder has submitted a shareholder resolution calling on the Lakeland-based grocery giant to report any progress it has made toward adopting animal welfare policies that pertain to the purchase of eggs and pig, chicken, and turkey meat. Publix operates 950 stores in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Tennessee and also owns Pix convenience stores in Florida.

Currently, the limbs of chickens and turkeys purchased by Publix are often broken, and the birds are conscious when their throats are cut during slaughter. The company buys most of its eggs from suppliers that cram hens into cages so tightly that the birds can’t even stretch a wing, and it buys pig meat from companies that immobilize pregnant sows in tiny “gestation crates” for months at a time.

Unlike Publix, many grocery chains–including Safeway, Winn-Dixie, and Harris Teeter–have already taken action to curb these abuses. These and other companies have enacted policies to increase the amount of cage-free eggs and crate-free pig meat that they purchase, as well as to begin to buy more chicken and turkey meat from suppliers that use a less cruel method of slaughter.

“Publix is way behind other major food retailers in addressing the suffering of animals on factory farms,” says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. “Consumers care about animal welfare, and if Publix doesn’t keep up with its rivals, shareholders could pay the price in diminishing returns.”