Addendum 1

The following represent nine of the most extreme areas of animal suffering experienced by animals raised for Safeway. Our offer to meet with you to go over each of the following points in detail stands, of course, but I will summarize each briefly. We are asking Safeway to:

1. Initiate audits of slaughterhouses and cut off suppliers that are out of compliance with humane slaughter guidelines. The Humane Slaughter Act, the only federal law that protects animals raised for food, is not enforced—the government has taken inspectors off slaughter lines, so the industry is left to police itself. The result is that slaughterhouse workers routinely beat, scald, skin, and dismember conscious animals; this behavior has been documented on videotape and in statements from line workers and retired USDA inspectors.

2. Cease buying eggs from suppliers that give hens less than 75 square inches of space per bird with the ultimate goal of phasing out battery cages altogether. Currently, suppliers cram hens into wire mesh battery cages with about as much space per bird as one-half of a sheet of standard paper. This abuse, which has been condemned as cruel by the entire European Union, is the modus operandi for America's egg suppliers. The average stocking density for henhouses across the United States is an abysmal 48 to 54 square inches per bird—these conditions don't allow hens enough space to spread even one wing their entire lives, and losses from death are in excess of 16 percent in many systems.

3. Buy chicken flesh and eggs only from suppliers that don't debeak chickens and ducks. Debeaking is the industry's cruel response to the destruction of nature's pecking order, which causes birds to go insane and fight because of overcrowding. The solution is to improve conditions (as McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's have done) so that animals do not go insane and attack one another, not hack off beaks and bills.

4. Institute humane guidelines for methods of catching chickens. Chicken-catchers routinely break bones as they gather chickens in sheds, remove hens from cages, and load them into crates for transport to slaughter. McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's suppliers curb this problem by financially rewarding workers who treat chickens more gently, thereby reducing the frequency of broken bones and hemorrhaging.

5. Stop buying eggs from suppliers that starve and dehydrate hens in order to increase egg production (a process known as "forced molting"). By removing food and water for up to two weeks, suppliers shock hens' worn-out bodies into another egg-laying cycle. Up to 5 percent of hens subjected to this procedure die, while the remaining hens, many of whom have lost all their feathers and 35 percent of their body weight, are forced to lay more eggs before being shipped off to slaughter. Forced molting is outlawed in Europe and has now been banned by McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's.

6. Phase out purchases from farms that confine sows to stalls. On today's factory farms, breeding pigs are confined to tiny concrete stalls for most of their lives. Unable to turn around, lie in a comfortable position, or nuzzle their babies, many of these animals go mad from the boredom, frustration, and stress, resulting in self-mutilation and aggressive behavior. Sow stalls are illegal throughout much of Europe, and viable alternatives have proved successful in the United States and Canada. Currently, Burger King will begin buying from suppliers that raise sows in less cruel conditions, McDonald's is funding alternative sow housing research at Purdue University, and Wendy's is working with pig experts in the animal welfare field.

7. Require slaughterhouses to improve electrical stunning of chickens by increasing stun bath settings to 120 mAmps, and encourage the adoption of gas stunning as a less cruel alternative. Before their throats are cut, chickens' heads are passed through an electrically charged water bath that immobilizes them but does not render them insensible to pain. The amperage is so low that chickens are often alive and bleeding to death after their throats are slit and enter the scalding tank (boiling water for feather removal) still partially conscious. Some of them miss both the immobilization bath and the automated neck-slicer and are scalded to death while fully conscious. Burger King, McDonald's, and Wendy's have increased stun baths to 120 mAmps (Wendy's is considering going as high as 200 mAmps), which will improve the situation, but gas killing for chickens has proved to be a more humane means of slaughter and should replace inhumane and outdated electrical stunning. I'm sending a copy of PETA's research on this subject for your review.

8. Require suppliers to adopt air-quality guidelines for chickens by limiting ammonia exposure to 25 parts per million, as done by Burger King and Wendy's, with an eventual goal of 10 parts per million. Chickens exposed to toxic ammonia suffer from chronic respiratory diseases, weakened immune systems, bronchitis, and "ammonia burn," a painful condition of the eye that can lead to blindness.

9. Require that suppliers immediately euthanize any animals who arrive at the slaughterhouse unable to walk, with broken limbs, or in severe pain (frozen, suffering from heat stroke, etc.). Animals routinely arrive at slaughterhouses frozen to the sides of trucks or unable to walk because of injuries or heat exhaustion. They should not be dragged from the backs of trucks or tortured into walking. They should be euthanized.

The above nine guidelines represent a good first step. Over the next few months, Safeway does not need to reinvent the wheel—McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's have laid the foundation for minimal standards on which you can build. Of course, these nine guidelines are far from complete and McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's have pledged to do more to improve conditions. To develop a comprehensive policy on animal welfare, Safeway should start now to implement these additional steps:

Dairy Cows and Veal Calves

1. Require producers to improve conditions for veal calves in ways similar to existing United Kingdom and European standards. In the United States, male calves are separated from their mothers a day or two after birth, confined, tethered, isolated in dark crates so small that they cannot turn around or comfortably lie down, and fed an anemia-inducing diet to make their muscles pale and weak for veal. Guidelines to reduce some of their suffering include the following:

• Prohibit the tethering and muzzling of calves.


• Ban the use of veal crates, as done in the European Union and the U.K. The ultimate goal should be to raise calves truly free-range, but in the interim, the European system of pens should be adopted in which calves have contact with other calves and are given ample space in which to turn around and comfortably lie down.


• Require that calves not be kept in perpetual darkness and that artificial lighting be provided during normal daylight hours.


• Require that calves be fed a diet that meets their nutritional needs, including a diet of solid food and dietary iron.


• Require that calves be given appropriate dry bedding.


• Require that calves not be weaned before 5 days of age.

2. Eliminate the use of rBST in dairy cattle. Bovine somatotropin (rBST), also known as bovine growth hormone (BGH), was recently deemed so detrimental to cow welfare by a Canadian veterinary panel that it was rejected for use in Canada by its government. In fact, the panel found that rBST increased the risk of clinical mastitis (a painful infection of the udders) by approximately 25 percent and lameness by 50 percent. This drug, which may also harm human health, has been outlawed in Australia and the European Union.

3. Improve living conditions for dairy cows. Dairy cows must never be tethered, except when absolutely required (e.g., for milking, weighing, or veterinary care). All cattle, regardless of location, should have access to pasture or turn-out lots for a minimum of five hours per day, with a minimum of 600 square feet per cow. Cattle kept in dry lots must have access at all times to an area for lying down that is well-drained, provides shelter from the sun, and is large enough to accommodate all cattle lying down at the same time. Cattle must always have the space to turn around, groom themselves, and lie down freely. Cows should be fed a diet of grasses and other foods that meet their nutritional needs.

4. Require dairies to immediately euthanize downed animals. Up to 91 percent of non-ambulatory animals are dairy cattle. These animals suffer immensely as they are dragged, pushed, or hoisted from place to place.

Broiler Chickens (Chickens Raised for Their Flesh)

Chickens raised for meat are typically kept in large warehouses that contain tens of thousands of birds. To ensure that birds do not suffer for weeks on end, farm inspections should require adequate time to evaluate each bird's welfare. Welfare standards to improve broiler well-being include:

1. Improve litter standards and space allotments per bird. Birds denied all that is natural to them are unhappy and frustrated and will attack one another. Litter and space should enable birds to perform many of their highly motivated behaviors such as foraging, scratching, dust-bathing, preening, wing-flapping, feather-ruffling, and stretching. Birds should be granted at least 2 square feet each and a thin layer of sand covered by approximately 3.9 inches of chopped straw to provide a suitable substratum for foraging and scratching. Litter should be replaced every 2 to 3 weeks as demanded by wetness and flock size. Litter moisture should never exceed 25 percent.

2. Require that lighting follow a normal daily pattern of 16 hours light and eight hours darkness and be kept at a minimum of 20 lux. To keep birds wakeful and eating, lights are often kept on for 23 hours a day. Unnatural lighting schedules lead to frustration and fighting.

3. Require that birds have continuous and easy access to food and water. There should be no restriction on food and water, and this should include just prior to catching. Some food should be scattered into litter to allow birds to forage. Denial of food and water is frustrating and can lead to fighting.

4. The birds' environment should be enriched to meet their behavioral and social needs. Flightiness and agitation are reduced by adding perches. Enrichment through the placing of golf balls, bottle tops, lengths of string, etc., will help birds adapt to novelty and therefore be less reactive to new situations such as catching, transport, etc. Access to sandboxes will improve bone strength. Hanging toys that birds can manipulate and explore with their beaks will add to overall contentment.

5. Breeding programs must make animal welfare a top priority and focus on eliminating the severity and incidence of metabolic and skeletal problems. Currently, chickens are at full slaughter weight in less than two months. These birds suffer chronic leg pain and bone cracks, as well as heart failure and lung collapse, as their upper bodies are forced to grow so quickly that their legs and organs cannot support their weight. To start with, breeding programs should select leaner strains. Because of these high rates of leg pain, chickens should be fed an analgesic drug to reduce leg pain, and vitamin C should be added to their diets.

Broiler Breeders

The breeding animals who "supply" the nation's 9 billion chickens have been called Gallus neglectedus ("neglected chickens") because their welfare is so often entirely ignored. The suffering of broiler breeders is extreme and must be addressed. These birds suffer from many of the same conditions forced on other chickens but suffer from them for longer. All of the above recommendations should be applied also to broiler breeders, except the recommendation regarding feed withdrawal. Broiler breeders, because of genetic breeding complications, are placed on restricted diets (which leaves them in almost constant hunger). I'm sending you a copy of PETA's research on this subject for your review.

1. Require that leaner strains be used in the broiler industry so that feed restriction can be phased out. In the interim, while leaner strains are being phased in, the following steps should be taken to address the issue of bird welfare:

• Feed should be mixed with bulky inert substances, so that birds can eat more without gaining weight.


• Birds should be given food at frequent intervals, rather than giving them all their food at once. This will provide stimulation and assist birds in fulfilling their natural need to forage.


• The "skip-a-day" feeding regimen commonly practiced should be eliminated altogether.


• In addition to analgesic drugs, chemical anorexic agents (to reduce hunger-induced stress) may be useful.


• Young chicks should be allowed ad libitum access to food at all times during their formative stages, in order to ensure proper development and overall welfare.


• Unrestricted access to water is essential for well-being and should be provided at all times to broiler breeders. The increased excretory wetness resulting from overdrinking should be addressed by more frequent improvement to the litter substrate (see above).

2. Prohibit suppliers from mutilating broiler breeders for convenience. Broiler breeders undergo a series of mutilations that cause both acute and chronic suffering and should be immediately stopped. Mutilation doesn't address the problem itself but rather the symptoms of the problem. For example, if birds attack one another out of frustration, debeaking is not the solution—environmental enrichment is. Thus, debeaking, declawing, despurring, dubbing, the use of intranasal implants, and toe removal should all be eliminated.

Egg-Laying Hens and Broiler Chickens

1. Buy chicken flesh and eggs only from suppliers that don't debeak chickens. Debeaking is the industry's cruel response to the destruction of nature's pecking order, which causes birds to go insane and fight because of overcrowding. The solution is to improve conditions so that animals do not go insane and attack one another, not hack off beaks (please see the enclosed "enrichment reports" for specifics).

2. Require standards for chicken transportation. Long journeys on the backs of trucks in tiny crates are clearly frustrating and often painful for birds. Birds should not be shipped for longer than six to eight hours; climate control should be required; and birds should be protected from snow, rain, wind, and any significant changes in temperature, particularly if temperatures go above 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cattle

Prohibit the practice of branding. Branding involves giving cattle third-degree burns without any painkillers, sometimes as often as four times over a two-year period.

General

Prohibit suppliers from mutilating animals for convenience. Tail-docking of cattle and pigs, toe-clipping of turkeys, and tooth-clipping of pigs are painful and unnecessary procedures. Dehorning should be eliminated, and castration should be performed only with the use of anesthesia and painkillers.