WASHINGTON and URBANDALE, Iowa – Walmart, along with subsidiary Sam?s Club, have updated their positions on animal welfare and the use of antibiotics in its supply chain.
Notably, Walmart is asking suppliers to publicly report their corporate animal welfare positions and antibiotic management on an annual basis. It also acknolwedged support for the five freedoms of animal welfare – a list of animal rights recognized by the United Nations – which preclude the use of gestation crates.
Walmart is not currently requiring suppliers to comply with its position, and did not announce timelines, but the Humane Society of the United States says the new positions are a game-changer.
?Who wouldn?t want the applause of Walmart, a company that represents 25 percent of grocery sales in the United States?? says Josh Balk, Director of Food Policy with HSUS? Farm Animal Division. ?If you?re a trade association, wouldn?t you want your particular trade to get the applause of Wamart? Wouldn?t you want your particular trade to comply with the asks of Walmart? I think so. I think it just makes business sense. And if for any other reason, it just makes business sense to move in a humane direction.?
In a statement, the National Pork Producers Council voiced its support for Walmart?s new positions, citing the current role of antibiotics in pork production. NPPC says they?re already being used responsibly, and in a manner that doesn?t diminish their efficacy for animal health.
The statement from NPPC President Ron Prestage does not directly address Walmart?s position on gestation crates, but Balk says Walmart was clear in asking its suppliers to go the whole hog.
?I think it?s wonderful that National Pork Producers Council applauded the decision by a major retailer – in it, talking about the need to move away from gestation crates. I believe that might be the first time NPPC has ever done it. And Walmart is clear about the type of housing it wants for its animals. And it expresses the need for animals to be able to engage in nautral behaviors, and those particular practices get specifically called out, including battery cages, gestation crates, and veal crates.?
To hear more about Walmart?s new positions on antibiotic use and animal welfare, click the audio player above this story.
