The Humane League UK protesting for better food standards outside a McDonalds
By Jack Walker
The animal rights charity The Humane League has urged people in northern communities to join its campaigns to increase animal welfare standards across the food industry.
The charity, which has bases in the U.K. as well as the United States, Japan and Mexico, has been working on its mission to end the abuse of animals raised for food by “influencing the policies of the world’s biggest companies, demanding legislation, and empowering individuals to take action”.
Vicky Bond, managing director of The Humane League U.K., said: “At the moment, the suffering of chickens reared for meat is one of the most pressing animal welfare issues, and we’re rising up to change this.
“With the help of our supporters, we are now beginning to witness a market shift in the industry akin to the cage-free movement for laying hens—and this is just the beginning.”
The charity also said that their campaigns had freed 70 million hens from cages across the world by the end of 2019.
Major companies have signed up to their Better Chicken Commitment (BCC), including KFC, Pret a Manger and Pizza Hut.
Pru Elliott, head of campaigns for the charity, said: “I spend my days ensuring that companies which refuse to improve standards can be publicly held to account for those failings.
“I’m pleased to say that most of the time being put in the spotlight is a very effective way to get companies to do the right thing.”
Maddy Dawe was a volunteer for The Humane League whilst at university, before being offered a job by the charity when she graduated.
She said: “It was clear to see that what volunteers were doing was making real change, with companies committing to better welfare standards as a result of our activism.
“I now work as The Humane League U.K.’s campaigns coordinator and can testify to how vital our volunteers are to the success of our campaigns.
“As we are currently looking to expand our volunteer-base, now is the perfect time to get involved and grow our Yorkshire community!”
If you would like to get involved with the charity, you can visit their website here.
You can also check them out on Twitter.