Quiznos caves in to PETA
By Drovers news source
| Thursday, February 12, 2009
The Quiznos sandwich chain announced this week that it has adopted a new animal-welfare policy for the eggs, pork and turkey it buys. The Denver-based chain said the policy was developed in conjunction with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Under the new policy, Quiznos will buy more eggs from cage-free chickens, more pork rasied in crate-free environments and more turkeys that are harvested using a method PETA describes as more humane.
Quiznos spokesman Joe Hodas said, “We are always trying to find new ways to be better corporate citizens, and we’ll continue to seek those ways.”
Under the new policy, Quiznos will give preference to suppliers who use cage-free or crate-free systems. Quiznos expects to buy about 4 percent of its eggs this year from cage-free producers, with a goal of raising that to 10 percent in five years. The chain also removed eggs from three of its four cookies on the menu. Quiznos also expects to buy 5 percent of its turkeys by 2010 from suppliers who use “controlled atmosphere killing,” in which the birds’ oxygen supply is replaced by other gases.
PETA claims it has been “working quietly” with Quiznos for about a year to influence the changes announced this week. The privately held Quiznos chain of 5,000 stores nationwide is another domino toppled by pressure from the animal-rights movement. (The Subway chain is next on PETA’s list.) That’s not to say the changes are all bad — indeed, the livestock industries have waged their own campaigns to improve animal welfare and prevent abuse. But the ultimate goal of PETA and similar groups is to put an end to livestock production and convince everyone to become a vegetarian.
At the same time PETA was claiming credit for policy changes at Quiznos, the group also boasted of an undercover investigation that resulted in felony cruelty-to-animals charges for employees of a turkey farm.
A grand jury issued 19 indictments for cruelty to animals against three former employees of Aviagen Turkeys Inc., with 11 of the indictments resulting in felony charges. The charges are the result of an undercover video shot at the
While you may believe Quiznos new policy on animal care — and that of other fast food chains — is unnecessary, the animal-rights movement continues to win the public relations battle with consumers because we repeatedly supply them with new ammunition. Animal abuse in any form must stop, whether it be in the back pasture or at a processing facility in the heart of a major metropolis. Future success of livestock production depends on our enforcement of a zero-tolerance policy on animal abuse. – Greg Henderson, Drovers editor
