McDonald’s has announced that it’s requiring pork suppliers to phase out gestation stalls — pig-sized pig cages where pregnant sows are confined, often unable to stand up or move around. Whoa, McDonald’s food has actual pigs in it? Who knew.
Right now the company is just asking suppliers to outline plans for getting rid of the stalls, and it’s not clear how long that will take — when Smithfield Food promised to get rid of gestation crates, for instance, it was a 10-year project. But it’s a step in the right direction, and the Humane Society is cheering them on.
Three U.S. states have already banned gestation crates, and the E.U. is phasing them out as well. Basically, everyone is realizing that it’s bad practice to horrifically abuse animals when you can just treat them sub-optimally and still make a profit.