Humane World for Animals has stepped down from its position on the board of directors for Global Animal Partnership, a seat that we have held since the group was formed in 2008. During our tenure, we consistently advocated for animal welfare improvements, working to tackle the longstanding, entrenched issues in farming practices across the animal agriculture industry. Our efforts have contributed to meaningful progress for farmed animals in the program, including shaping the standards and pushing them to go further through:
- Development of an assessment of chicken welfare based on breed, plus a requirement that producers at the higher step levels avoid using breeds that suffer the most from painful genetic traits, such as extremely rapid growth.
- Development of a standard for catching and loading turkeys for transport, which decreases abusive treatment.
- Strengthening of G.A.P.’s chicken welfare standards to promote more access to natural light and to prohibit the use of ventilation shutdown or carbon dioxide gassing.
- Development of a new standard requiring pain relief when removing horn buds from calves in the dairy industry.
Our goal as animal welfare advocates has been to continuously raise the level of protection G.A.P. provides, and so it is with regret that we have concluded based on recent developments in G.A.P.’s direction that stepping away is the right course of action for us. We have concerns that G.A.P. has deviated from its stated mission to drive meaningful, continuous improvement and is not progressing on a timeline or in a way that can justify our continued direct involvement.
We hope G.A.P. will return to its founding vision. In the meantime, we will continue to look for ways to support farmers committed to more humane practices, guide consumers toward choices that cause less animal suffering and support a global shift to a more plant-forward food system.
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