McDonald's Corp. announced Wednesday that it will require its U.S. pork suppliers to submit plans to phase out individual stalls for the pigs by May, a decision supported by the Humane Society of the United States.
"There are alternatives that we think are better for the welfare of sows," said Dan Gorsky, senior vice president of McDonald's North America Supply Chain Management, in a statement. "McDonald's wants to see the end of sow confinement in gestation stalls in our supply chain."
The decision came after years of talks between McDonald's and the Humane Society and from the fast-food chain's analysis of how the stalls affect the animals, said Josh Balk, a spokesman for the Humane Society.
Balk said sows spend a majority of their lives confined in 2-by-7-foot metal cages, which give them little room to move around and are considered inhumane by animal rights groups.
He said the use of gestation stalls by pork suppliers is banned in the European Union and in eight U.S. states, including Florida.
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