Dear Fast friends

I’m excited to share that the Open Wing Alliance’s campaign against Lidl in Europe is driving tangible progress. Lidl GB is set to increase space allocated to its own-label fresh chickens by 20% above the current industry standard, with the transition starting this Summer. This move will see the maximum stocking density reduced to 30kg/sqm, and will benefit an estimated 70 million chickens.

The OWA was in negotiations with Lidl until February 2024 when negotiations came to an end but campaign pressure is continuing  in countries across Europe including the UK. 

The collective might of the OWA has enabled us so far to:

→ Conduct 76 in-person protests across Germany, the UK, Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden and Austria 

→ Obtain over 570,000+ petition signatures 

→ Secure more than 656 media articles across Europe

→ Conduct numerous investigations

→ Gain the support of high-profile individuals

Timeline: The OWA campaign launched in October 2022 led by The Albert Schweitzer Foundation and Animal Welfare Observatory.  The campaign is not over, but this is a milestone in the UK worth celebrating 

Who: The Open Wing Alliance members and specifically THL UK and Open Cages for their work in the UK 

Follow Up: the campaign is still ongoing in Europe and the UK until a full BCC commitment is made. Lidl must adopt the Better Chicken Commitment in full and make progress in the minimum ask countries, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland, Sweden, Austria and the UK. This will see the retailer abolish one of the main sources of suffering chickens face and motivate others to move. The fight continues!

Thank you,

Matthew Melton on behalf of The Open Wing Alliance 
 

8

0
0

Reactions

0
0
Comments


No comments on this post yet.
Be the first to respond.
Curated and popular this week
 · 2d ago · 1m read
 · 
Developed by Animal Law Focus – Beta Version Now Available Animal Law Focus is proud to launch the first interactive map of its kind in Chile, providing public access to the locations and profiles of farms, slaughterhouses and aquaculture facilities, across the country. This tool was created to promote transparency, legal accountability, and informed advocacy in the farm animal sector. The map includes: * All identified facilities involved in animal production, including broiler farms, egg-laying operations, dairy farms, fattening units, slaughterhouses, and aquaculture facilities. * A unique profile for each facility, detailing its official registration and any animal welfare infractions recorded over the last five years. * Direct access to publicly available data sourced from national enforcement agencies. 🔧 Currently in its beta version, this tool is a work in progress. It will be continuously updated and improved to ensure it becomes the most comprehensive and accessible enforcement database for animal agriculture in Chile. Our aim is to equip the public, advocates, journalists, researchers, and policymakers with the data they need to demand stronger protections for animals and push for systemic reform. This launch is part of a broader strategy to shine a light on practices that are often hidden from public view — and to ensure that existing animal protection laws are effectively enforced. 📢 We will soon publish our first national report analysing five years of enforcement data and proposing concrete legal reforms to strengthen animal welfare in Chile. Stay informed by subscribing to our newsletter and following us on social media.
 · 2d ago · 1m read
 · 
Developed by Animal Law Focus – Beta Version Now Available Animal Law Focus is proud to launch the first interactive map of its kind in Chile, providing public access to the locations and profiles of farms, slaughterhouses and aquaculture facilities, across the country. This tool was created to promote transparency, legal accountability, and informed advocacy in the farm animal sector. The map includes: * All identified facilities involved in animal production, including broiler farms, egg-laying operations, dairy farms, fattening units, slaughterhouses, and aquaculture facilities. * A unique profile for each facility, detailing its official registration and any animal welfare infractions recorded over the last five years. * Direct access to publicly available data sourced from national enforcement agencies. 🔧 Currently in its beta version, this tool is a work in progress. It will be continuously updated and improved to ensure it becomes the most comprehensive and accessible enforcement database for animal agriculture in Chile. Our aim is to equip the public, advocates, journalists, researchers, and policymakers with the data they need to demand stronger protections for animals and push for systemic reform. This launch is part of a broader strategy to shine a light on practices that are often hidden from public view — and to ensure that existing animal protection laws are effectively enforced. 📢 We will soon publish our first national report analysing five years of enforcement data and proposing concrete legal reforms to strengthen animal welfare in Chile. Stay informed by subscribing to our newsletter and following us on social media.
Martin Smrek
 · 4d ago · 2m read
 · 
Humánny pokrok has launched its new flagship campaign called STOP rýchlokurčatám (“STOP the fast chickens”) focusing on broiler chickens in Slovakia. The goal was to establish chicken welfare as a relevant public issue in Slovakia, secure a mandate for action from the public, and prepare the grounds for future corporate outreach efforts and pressure campaigns. We’ve launched with publishing the first investigation footage from broiler chicken farms in Slovakia, which was presented in the news segment and investigation programme of the biggest TV station in the country, reaching over half a million viewers, and an additional 1.2 million later on social media. This was followed by a campaign including an agency produced video with a local celebrity that has reached over 2 million people (over one third of the population). On top of that, we’ve published two new reports: one covering the welfare issues of fast growing breeds of broiler chickens, the market data, opinion polls, and ECC commitments and requirements, and one covering the financial aspects of transitioning to ECC compliant production in Slovakia. The reports reached an additional 1 million people through media mentions. We’ve already met with a couple of retailers and are working on additional meetings as we speak. But so far, despite some early signs of possible progress, they are trying to deflect media inquiries and public statements. The Poultry union is, surprisingly, pointing to imported chickens as the main issue, essentially throwing the ball at the retailers as well. However, the investigated farmers are ramping up their legal threats to levels not seen before, probably encouraged by the political situation in the country and decline of the rule of law.  Three weeks after the launch, the campaign collected over 30,000 petition signatures (slightly more than 0.5% of population) calling for the end of fast growing chickens, which is slightly less than we were aiming for, but should be sufficient