PETA's letter to Safeway Canada

April 26, 2002

Linda Toby Oswald-Felker, Vice President
Public Relations and Government Affairs
Canada Safeway Ltd.
1020 64th Ave. N.E.
Calgary, Alberta T2E 7V8
Canada

Dear Ms. Oswald-Felker:

We've been surprised by your comments in the press and in your form letter to Canadians who express concern about your company's lack of animal welfare standards. Your position is certainly way out of line with the facts. Let me help you set the record straight. Should you require any clarification, I would be delighted to talk with you.

I. Contrary to your false statements, Safeway has not addressed even one of PETA's concerns.

You have been quoted as saying:

• Safeway "already works with its suppliers to set up 'humane practices for the care and handling of livestock'" (Canadian Press, April 2, 2002);


• You "question the information that [PETA has]. Safeway doesn't condone in any way the mistreatment of animals" (Calgary Herald, April 5, 2002);


• Calgary-based Canada Safeway already works with suppliers to set up "humane practices for the care and handling of livestock. All of our plants are open for audits. We also have quality-assurance people who check animal welfare'" (Calgary Herald);


• "We have also communicated to all our suppliers sharing PETA's concerns about animal welfare issues and asking them to take the necessary steps to further ensure that their animals are treated humanely" (form letter, various dates).

If you're "working" with your suppliers, it is only to reinforce what they're already doing, and it is totally immoral of you to claim otherwise. If you were working with your suppliers to ensure that animals are treated humanely, many of those in the industry would be making a fuss, as they are over the standards being required in Canada by Burger King, Wendy's, and Domino's. We are keeping up to date with industry developments. Each time something happens (e.g., Wendy's or Burger King's audits in Canada), there is an immediate outcry. There has been not a peep about anything that Safeway is doing. Also, if you were doing this, you would not, as you do at every turn, refer to Canadian laws as adequate to protect animals, as discussed below.

II. Contrary to your statements, Safeway refuses to address issues of farmed animal abuse in the U.S. and in Canada.

Perhaps the most remarkable of your statements, which has appeared in various forms multiple places including your form letter for Canadians, is that Canadians shouldn't worry because Safeway is only failing to address farmed animal issues in the United States, not in Canada:

• "We believe the [government] standards are well above what takes place in other countries." (The Province, April 3, 2002);


• "The difference in Canada versus the U.S. is that there are very tough animal cruelty laws in place and that they are enforced. … The video was shot in the U.S., not in Canada" (CBC Radio, April 2, 2002, available online);


• "Canadian standards already meet or exceed those that PETA is requesting. We have very tough animal cruelty laws … [PETA's] video is pertinent to U.S. suppliers …" (Winnipeg Sun, April 5, 2002); and


• "In Canada, we know that the standards that are being employed in the farming and producer industry already meet or exceed those adopted by the [f]ast [f]ood chains in the U.S." (you said this twice in your form letter, oddly—perhaps for emphasis?); "[T]heir video … was not in Canada" (form letter).

First, are you really that unfamiliar with the issues? Have you honestly not bothered to talk with any experts? The consensus of animal welfare experts is dead against you—which is why Burger King and Wendy's have had to implement their standards in Canada, much to industry consternation. That you put this into your form letter defies belief.

Let me elaborate: In an article that mentions PETA's boycott of Safeway (Vancouver Sun, April 12, 2002), it was pointed out that "while Canadian standards require egg-laying hens in battery cages to have 62 square inches of space, Burger King standards require 75 square inches. Canadian codes also permit forced moulting, debeaking, sow stalls, and the branding and ear-notching of cattle." After discussing Animal Alliance of Canada's belief that slaughterhouse audits are essential, the Sun went on to comment that "This was borne out in 1999 when world-renowned slaughterhouse expert Temple Grandin … did a survey of Canadian abattoirs and found that only 60 percent met basic humane standards. Grandin said then that in the plants that failed her survey, 'the treatment of animals … would probably constitute abuse and cruelty.'"

This portion of the story is particularly ironic, since you cite, in Safeway's defense, Dr. Grandin's work in your form letter about farmed animal welfare ("? renowned animal welfare activist, Dr. Temple Grandin"). Dr. Grandin's report on Canadian slaughter can be read in full at www.Grandin.com. Many slaughterhouses failed her announced audits, and, even during announced audits, "very bad things were observed," including things that "would probably constitute abuse and cruelty," That indicates a need for audits, as does Dr. Grandin's detailed list of things that can go wrong which will make slaughter grossly inhumane. Please note that despite her very public report of clear problems, there was no law enforcement intervention, for reasons detailed below. Of course, as the fast food giants learned and Dr. Grandin notes in her Canadian report, it is the fear of being cut off that forces these places to change. In fact, according to a report in February from the Saskatchewan and Manitoba Pork Councils (Farmscape.ca, February 6, 2002), Dr. Grandin "is calling for 'on farm auditing' to track and measure the manner in which livestock is handled." She notes that the systems set up by McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's in the United States have led to improvements by their suppliers. It's pathetic and sad that you would use Dr. Grandin's good name to justify your continued inaction on the issues to which she has dedicated herself.

On April 8, 2002, The Producer reported that "there are no standards describing what animals are fit to travel." So, animals who can't walk "can now spend two or three weeks shunted between auction markets and assembly yards before being trucked long distances to United States slaughter plants." The journalist reports that "[t]he head of the Alberta SPCA enforcement branch has pleaded with cattle producers to stop shipping weak animals and stem the increasing number of animals collapsing in trucks on the way to slaughter." Please note that despite appearing repeatedly at auctions, these animals, who can't even walk, are not euthanized, and no law protects them from this grotesque abuse. This should be of particular interest to you, since Safeway operates five dairy plants in Canada and most of these animals are dairy cows. You really should be ashamed.

As just one final example, the Animal Alliance of Canada commissioned a report on Farmed Animal Welfare in Canada, which I hope you'll review (it's on the organization's Web site). It is titled, appropriately, Anything Goes: An Overview of Canada's Legal Approach to Animals on Factory Farms and was researched and written by three lawyers. The lawyers do a thorough review of farmed animal welfare in Canada and conclude, basically, that "anything goes." They write: "…in this country's laws and Codes of Practice, consideration of the living creature is almost nowhere to be found … governments have opted to defer much of their authority to voluntary standards created by the industry itself … the legislation repeatedly authorizes 'generally accepted activities,' meaning that the industry chooses for itself the practices that will be permissible …" They go on to detail the use of all the practices we're asking Safeway to stop supporting, as well as many others.

As Dr. Dan Weary, professor of animal welfare in the University of British Columbia's Agricultural Sciences faculty, stated, "standard agricultural practices in the two countries [the U.S. and Canada] were similar" (The Province, cited above). He went on to point out that PETA's requests are in no way extreme, concluding, "Producers can meet these requirements."

Even if your statements were accurate, they would still be morally revolting. Safeway in Canada is owned by Safeway in the United States. It is part of the same corporate family, with the same bottom line; people shopping at Safeway in Canada add to the bottom line of the U.S. parent corporation. Even if it were true that the abuse didn't go on in Canada (and, as just explained, this is just wrong), it would be quite sad that Safeway's Canadian vice president for public affairs would so totally ignore the almost unimaginable abuse of animals that she seems to agree her corporation supports (or at least does nothing to stop) in the United States.

* Our video is recent footage and documents the abusive farmed-animal practices that Safeway refuses to address, right now.

You have been quoted as saying that PETA's "video is pertinent to the U.S. (suppliers) and is quite dated" (Winnipeg Sun, above); their video [was] apparently shot for the most part in 1990" (form letter).

In addition to being morally outrageous, this statement is also completely false and potentially libelous. The Safeway supplier footage is actually from last year, an uncomfortable fact you would have learned by calling us (or reading our letter to your parent company in the U.S). Almost all of the other video footage was also shot in the past two years, and all of it depicts practices that are standard in the industry, in Canada and the U.S., and that Safeway still refuses to address.

It is also absurd for you to say that we "have not identified the supplier depicted in [our] video [or] the location of the incident" (form letter). This statement is also inaccurate and even bizarre, since we've tried to have discussions with you and you have simply refused. You could have found out anything you wanted to know about our videos simply by asking.

Finally, you told the Winnipeg Sun, "[W]e purchase all our meat and poultry from the same reputable sources that our competitors buy from." Based on the facts, we feel that this assertion is disingenuous and misleading. Burger King and Wendy's are no longer willing to support this abuse. It seems that Safeway is. Since your key Canadian competition is not owned by a U.S. parent corporation, this is also quite wrong: The conditions that you seem to agree are so horrible in the U.S. (note your comments above about how, in contrast to the U.S., Canadians have laws to protect farmed animals) are not supported by your Canadian competition. This alone—your apparent agreement that farmed animals are abused in the U.S. and yet Safeway officials in the U.S. refuse to do anything about it—taking all your comments at face value, would be more than ample reason for humane consumers to boycott and picket your stores.

Safeway was once the industry leader on animal testing. The humane community feels betrayed by Safeway on the issue of farmed animal welfare. Why not show some leadership on humane treatment in this area? Or at least meet the minimum standards of others? Our requests are quite reasonable, as noted by Dr. Weary. We have settled with Burger King and Wendy's, and we have agreed to leave Wholefoods and KFC alone entirely because they are working with us. Surely you can move forward?

As we have stated in letters to Safeway's U.S. CEO and public relations vice president, Safeway has chosen to ignore its suppliers' abuse of farmed animals. We are not asking for Safeway to do any more than what your customers want (and your public relations statements seem to acknowledge this); we are only asking that Safeway eliminate some of the most egregious abuses—things you simply can't defend, like grossly inhumane slaughter, starving hens for up to two weeks to shock their bodies into another laying cycle, and so on.

Please call me to discuss these matters. If I don't hear from you by the end of the week, either Dr. Steven Gross or I will call you.

Sincerely,

Bruce G. Friedrich
Senior Campaign Coordinator

cc: Stephanie Brown, Animal Alliance of Canada
Debra Probert, Vancouver Humane Society
John Youngman, Winnipeg Humane Society
Chuck Mulvenna, President and COO, Safeway Canada
Brian Dowling, Vice President for Public Affairs, Safeway
Steve Burd, CEO, Safeway
Karen Brown, FMI
Dr. Steven Gross, Steven J. Gross & Associates
Dr. Temple Grandin, Colorado State University
Terrie Dort, NCCR