Fwd: HumaneLines Issue 343: Thanks Wild Oats for Going Cage Free

June 1, 2005

YEH!! First Whole Foods, right? Now Wild Oats!!

Discover Get on-the-go sports scores, stock quotes, news more. Check it out!

The Cage-Free Birds

SingWith one simple decision,

Wild Oats Markets, the third-largest natural foods retailer in

the United States with 75 stores in 23 states, has just

made life better for countless laying hens who

typically live in crowded battery cages no larger than a piece

of notebook paper. On Tuesday, Wild Oats announced a new

corporate policy against the sale of cage eggs, effective

immediately.This historic announcement makes

Wild Oats the first national retailer to officially commit

exclusively to cage-free eggs for its approved national and

regional product lists. The hundreds of millions of hens in

battery cages are the most intensively confined animals in the

United States. Caged laying hens cannot even stretch their

wings, let alone engage in other natural behaviors such as

nesting, foraging, perching, and dust bathing.

"Demand for improving the welfare

of farm animals has never been higher," said Perry Odak,

president and CEO of Wild Oats. "We are hopeful that our

decision not to approve egg farmers who use caged birds for our

national and regional product lists will encourage the egg

industry

What You Can

Do

» Thank Wild Oats

for adopting a cage-free policy.» Read more about

this historic decision. to move in

the direction of phasing out its use of battery cages, and

shifting toward cage-free methods that take the animals' welfare

into account."At present, virtually no laws

exist in the United States to protect these birds. Egg-laying

hens are exempted from the federal Animal Welfare Act and are

excluded from the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act. Most states'

anti-cruelty statutes either explicitly exempt standard

agricultural practices—no matter how abusive—or they

aren't ever applied to farm animals.Fortunately, with leading companies like Wild Oats taking

steps to improve animal welfare, laying hens in the United

States are beginning to see their plight improve. And that's why

it's important to thank Wild Oats

for leading this important charge.

Save the

WhalesThe HSUS and other groups have

made an emergency appeal to the National Marine Fisheries

Service to protect the highly endangered North Atlantic right

whale from death and injury from ship strikes. Please take action today to save the

whales.

Casualties of

WarThe Department of Defense takes

a hard-hearted approach to the stray dogs and cats befriended by

our troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan: shoot-to-kill. Tell President Bush to support

our troops by reversing this cruel policy.

Court KO's

CockfightersA federal court

rejected a pro-cockfighting group's challenge to a 2002 law that

cracks down on illegal animal fighting. This ruling clears the

way for Congress to pass felony

punishments for animal fighting. More...

Recent

Victories

» Texas Governor Perry is poised

to sign a ban on Internet hunting. » Washington State's Governor

Gregoire signed a bill to make dog fighting and cockfighting

felony

offenses.

Voting With

Your DollarsDear

Deanne,Here in

HumaneLines, we often talk about voting. We tell you when

a vote is coming up on an animal protection bill. We ask you to

review our Humane Scorecard to

evaluate your legislators. And we actively encourage you to

register so we can develop a large humane voting

bloc.But there's another way you can

vote to help animals: by voting with your pocketbook. Your

purchasing choices have an impact. They reward companies that

take positive steps for animal welfare, and let competing

companies know that you expect them to do better if they want

your business. Many nonprofit organizations today have as much

success—or more—by working in the corporate

boardrooms as they do working in the courtrooms and the halls of

Congress.There are so many ways you can

help animals through the daily choices you make at grocery

stores, restaurants, or other retailers. We're asking you, for

example, to boycott Canadian seafood

to protest the brutal bludgeoning of baby seals by Canada's

fishing industry. The Country Of Original Labeling law passed in

the United States makes it easy for consumers to know if their

snowcrab or other seafood comes from our neighbor to the north,

and to send a message that we won't buy while seals

die.Just as important as boycotting

products that are harmful to animals is thanking and rewarding

the companies leading the way in animal welfare reforms. You've

just read about Wild Oats becoming the first national grocer to

eliminate eggs from cruel battery cages. Now we must thank Wild Oats for being

a leader in going "cage free," and encourage other companies to

follow suit.So vote with your

dollars for the animals. Because every vote, and ever dollar,

counts. Sincerely,Mike Markarian,PresidentHSUS Fund for

Animals

Action Toolbox

Lobbying

101 Legislator

look-up State bills

Federal

bills Humane

Scorecard

Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). .

The Humane Society of the United States | 2100 L Street, NW

| Washington, DC 20037 humanelines | 202-452-1100 |

www.hsus.org

This message was sent to d2or3. Visit your subscription management page to modify your email communication preferences or update your personal profile. To stop receiving HumaneLines, click to . To stop ALL email from The Humane Society of the United States, click to remove yourself from our lists (or reply via email with "remove" in the subject line).