Updated Tuesday, 23 October
Coles has announced it will speed up its plans to implement a sow stall-free policy on its Australian fresh pork and small goods, as well as imported pork products.
The move comes as animal rights groups launch a major blitz on factory farming.
The supermarket chain had originally benchmarked 2014 as the date from which all Coles branded pork, including ham and bacon produced in Australia and overseas, would be sourced from pigs not confined in sow stalls.
However, it has announced this morning that it will reach that goal twelve months early, by the start of 2013.
RSPCA chief executive officer Heather Neil has described Coles' decision as a "huge step forward to improving the lives of pigs along with strengthening the humane food movement in Australia”.
“Coles has taken a positive step towards providing Australians with more humanely farmed pork and in doing so has sent a very strong signal that there is no place for sow stalls in the future of Australian pig production; they’ve really set a precedent for other big retailers and it would be great to see them follow suit”, Ms Neil said.
Many Australians have said that they would prefer to buy higher welfare pork and, in order to make a meaningful impact to pig welfare; we need more humanely farmed products available on the supermarket shelf.
“Removing sow stalls is a fantastic step in the right direction and it would be good to see farrowing crates phased out next. That is why the RSPCA supports the Pork CRC’s ongoing research into alternative, confinement-free farrowing systems that cater for the welfare needs of both the sow and her piglets.
“Coles has also announced it will stop selling its own brand of cage eggs and only source barn-laid or free-range eggs to sell under its own label. This change was also fast-tracked as a result of increased consumer demand – which is good news for layer hens as well as consumers wanting to purchase cage-free eggs,” said Ms Neil.
Coles already stocks RSPCA Approved eggs, pork, chicken and turkey which are produced in systems that meet the RSPCA's definition of humane.
Animals Australia said on Sunday that it has recruited celebrity chefs Neil Perry, Robert Marchetti and Shannon Bennett to underpin television advertisements that will launch today showing footage of breeding sows kept in dark, cramped steel cages and chickens in mass cages. The campaign is designed to urge consumers to choose meat produced in free-range conditions.
Chef Neil Perry told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper it was a simple decision to lend his weight to anti-factory farming campaign.
"If people only knew about where the food comes from they would be horrified to eat it," Mr Perry said.
"We drive these animals insane before we eat them and it's just wrong."
As a chef, he seeks animals that are raised because they taste better.
"I am a big believer in karma and trying to do the right thing and making sure that animals are well treated. I make no bones about the fact we're going to eat them at some stage, but that if they are treated better they taste better."
Animals Australia boss Lyn White said the campaign aimed to raise consumer awareness that cheap meat came at a cost to animal welfare.
"Few Australians are aware that the majority of pork, chicken and egg products are produced in factory farms, or of the conditions and treatment these animals are forced to endure," Ms White said.
"Factory farming in terms of numbers of animals involved and duration of suffering is by far the greatest animal welfare issue in this country, and one that only continues because the spotlight has not been shone on it."
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