February 2020

Ending Live Export

Brazil

A Mercy For Animals drone captured footage of cattle transport trucks pulling up to a massive docked ship at a port in Brazil. Steer after steer is forced onto the ship through a narrow chute extending from the truck. Over several weeks, these animals travel across the Atlantic Ocean to slaughterhouses in destination countries. A collaborative new video released by Mercy For Animals sheds light on the horrific fates of many animals exported alive.

Our team in Brazil is urging the country’s government to ban live export for slaughter. Our supporters there have been organizing demos and gathering petition signatures—more than 390,000 so far. We are urging senators to pass a proposed bill to ban the practice and calling for a public hearing in the National Congress.

We showed the footage during a public demonstration in São Paulo. The video we recorded of spectators’ reactions will be delivered to senators and released to the public along with a survey showing that 84 percent of Brazilians oppose live export.

Challenging Slaughter Line Speed Increases

United States

Together with the Humane Society of the United States, Government Accountability Project, Animal Outlook, and Marin Humane, we filed a lawsuit challenging the United States Department of Agriculture’s decision to increase line-speed limits at chicken slaughterhouses.

In many slaughterhouses, chickens are hastily shackled by their legs, upside down, onto fast-moving lines that kill birds at a rate of up to 140 per minute. Despite problems associated with this rate, the USDA now authorizes some slaughterhouses to increase line speeds up to 175 birds per minute. Learn more.

Keeping Pressure on Grupo Pão de Açúcar and Bella Capri

Brazil

Three years ago, our team in Brazil asked retail giant Grupo Pão de Açúcar to eliminate cruel cages for hens. Despite significant public pressure, the company has refused to take action. On the three-year anniversary of our campaign launch, we sent company executives a few gifts: a fake bloodied hen locked in a cage and a key with a letter. The note explains the power these executives hold to “open the cages” for millions of suffering hens.

Celebrating Black History Month

United States

We highlighted the influential social justice work of Black vegans like Angela Davis and Coretta Scott King.

Promoting Plant-Based Policies

Brazil

In São Paulo, Brazil, local and regional government officials from across the country enjoyed a delicious plant-based dinner planned by our food policy team. We partnered with Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) to deliver the all-vegan menu and educate attendees on how plant-based public policies could generate positive change.

Implementing Food Policy Commitments

Brazil

Last year, officials in Belo Horizonte, a city home to 2.5 million people, announced a partnership with Mercy For Animals to reduce meat, dairy, and eggs served by 20 percent in public schools and government-subsidized restaurants that offer affordable meals to people in need.

On February 14 and 15, our food policy team took the first step toward implementing this plan with a two-day course in vegetarian nutrition for public sector workers. Co-hosted with the Brazilian Vegetarian Society, the event featured well-known nutritionists Alessandra Luglio and Paula Gandin. The initiative will officially launch in March/April.

Shining a Media Spotlight

United States

In an op-ed published in the New York Daily News, Mercy For Animals president Leah Garcés outlined how the United States could follow in France’s footsteps by banning the practice of killing male chicks, who are of no use to the egg industry. Mercy For Animals investigations have uncovered male chicks ground up alive in macerators—one of the most common methods of killing these baby birds. But researchers are developing ways to determine the sex of chicken embryos before they develop. One such test can detect a female-only hormone in a small sample of egg fluid. These innovations could prevent the brutal deaths of billions of male chicks every year.

Using Star Power

United States

Twenty Canadian-born celebrities signed a letter with Mercy For Animals calling on the CEO of MOD Pizza to eliminate the worst abuse for chickens in the company’s supply chain. The celebrity supporters include 90210 star Jason Priestley, Jane the Virgin actor Brett Dier, Riverdale star Cody Kearsley, Charmed lead Sarah Jeffery, and supermodel and social media influencer Nick Bateman.

View our year-to-date progress at MercyForAnimals.org/Impact