Smithfield Pork to phase out gestation crates
Washington, D.C. - Smithfield Foods Inc., the nation’s largest hog producer, announced today that it will phase out the use of crates to house sows, a move immediately hailed by animal-welfare activists.
The decision could increase pressure on other hog producers to end the use of gestation crates as well, but it would have no immediate impact on Iowa because Smithfield owns no sow operations in the state.
“This was a Smithfield business decision based on interaction with customers and based on what customers wanted, which was to have their supply chains be responsible,” said Dennis Treacy, Smithfield's vice president of environmental and corporate affairs.
The use of sow crates has been a major issue for animal-welfare groups, which argue that the stalls are inhumane and have been pressuring restaurant and supermarket chains for a decade to force an end to their use. Voters in two states with little hog production, Arizona and Florida, have approved ballot measures banning the crates’ use.
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The decision could increase pressure on other hog producers to end the use of gestation crates as well, but it would have no immediate impact on Iowa because Smithfield owns no sow operations in the state.
“This was a Smithfield business decision based on interaction with customers and based on what customers wanted, which was to have their supply chains be responsible,” said Dennis Treacy, Smithfield's vice president of environmental and corporate affairs.
The use of sow crates has been a major issue for animal-welfare groups, which argue that the stalls are inhumane and have been pressuring restaurant and supermarket chains for a decade to force an end to their use. Voters in two states with little hog production, Arizona and Florida, have approved ballot measures banning the crates’ use.
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