On July 4, a group of animal advocates protested in front of a Shoppers Drug Mart in Edmonton, calling out the company for failing to keep their promise to stop selling eggs from hens confined in cages. Shoppers Drug Mart is part of the Loblaws family of brands—a company that has been under fire from Animal Justice over this broken promise.
The protest highlighted the cruelty involved with caging animals. The event showcased real cages, demonstrating firsthand to the public how hens are forced to live without enough space to even walk around—all to provide eggs for Loblaw’s brands.
Keeping hens in cages is considered one of the most cruel practices in farming, and causes immense suffering for these sensitive animals. Leaders in the grocery industry worldwide are committing to ban cages in their supply chains, but not Loblaw.
In 2016, Loblaw announced it would stop selling eggs from hens confined in cages in all their stores, including Loblaws grocers and Shoppers Drug Mart. The transition was supposed to be completed by 2025. But seven long years after the promise was made, the company says it won’t meet this deadline, and refuses to share a new timeline for stamping caged cruelty out of its supply chain.
Animal Justice, our supporters, and thousands of concerned citizens have been reaching out to Loblaw Companies about their failed cage-free promise for months. But the only response from Loblaw has been to point toward their President’s Choice house brand of eggs, which is already cage-free. They won’t share any information about all the other brands they continue to sell from hens confined in tiny cages.
Over the past weeks, Loblaw brands have been blocking people from some of their social media accounts, and deleting customer questions about the company’s cage-free policy. This secrecy falls short of Loblaw’s promises on their website, stating they’re committed to “transparency, accountability and sound corporate governance” and to have a “customer-centric and values-based approach to decision making.” While this is not what we’d expect from a grocery leader, it shows that our message is being heard.
Join us in demanding Loblaw keeps their promise and go cage-free.
Banner: Gereen Anderson
