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Agricultural News


Sonic Confirms Adopting Humane Society Policy Regarding Elimination of Gestation Crates

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 14:07:46 CDT

Sonic Confirms Adopting Humane Society Policy Regarding Elimination of Gestation Crates
After consulting with the Humane Society of the United States, the company that operates the Sonic Drive-In chain has made changes to its pork supplier policy and is calling for the elimination of gestation crates from its supply chain.

The HSUS announced in a news release yesterday that Oklahoma-based Sonic Corporation had made the changes it advocated, although the policies were not immediately reflected on the company's website.

The website has since been changed.

The company's original policy had shown a desire to obtain increasing amounts of crate-free pork from suppliers, but it indicated an understanding that a transition of all pork production to a crate-free environment would take some time. Sonic's original policy stated:

"The pork industry is moving away from the practice of confining sows in gestation crates to housing them in group pens and Sonic supports this change. At least 8% of Sonic's pork products come from suppliers who no longer confine breeding hogs in gestation crates. Sonic's five-year target is to double the current percentage sourced from suppliers who do not use gestation crates, increasing an average of 1.5% annually, to a minimum of 16% gestation crate-free pork by 2016 and continue to increase that usage over time. Sonic will favor suppliers that raise hogs in a gestation crate-free environment and that can provide audit and tracking reports for sourcing crate-free pork."

A company spokesman confirmed that the company has changed it's policy under consultation with the HSUS. The following policy is now posted on the company's website:

"Many large scale pork producers are moving away from confining sows in gestation crates by transitioning to systems in which sows are housed in group pens. Sonic began addressing this issue in 2010, when the company began incorporating gestation crate-free pork into its supply chain. Sonic is actively working to eliminate gestation crates from its pork supply chain, and intends to reach that goal no later than 2022, although is working toward 2017, the timeframe several large pork producers have set to be fully transitioned to group sow housing. Sonic will continue to favor suppliers that raise hogs in a gestation crate-free environment in addition to suppliers that can provide audit and tracking reports for sourcing crate-free pork."

Sonic's policy on animal welfare also states the company "believes that programs developed on an understanding of the issues, using science-based policies and standards, are typically more successful and sustainable in the long-term."   


Since February, animal rights groups have succeeded in pressuring major fast food chains like McDonald's, Burger King, Denny's, and Wendy's as well as grocery store chains Safeway and Kroger to publicly announce they were phasing out the use of pork from suppliers using gestation crates.


   

 

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