ENDING THE WORST PRACTICES IN THE INDUSTRY
Most animals in factory farms spend their whole lives in horrible conditions, confined in spaces they can barely move and without access to an environment that allows them to perform their natural behaviors. That’s why Sinergia Animal works to end the worst forms of animal suffering in the food industry.
Our goal is to get corporate commitments that impact a large number of animals.
EGG INDUSTRY
Battery cages for laying hens are considered one of the cruelest practices of animal agriculture as it completely hinders hens from carrying out their most basic behaviors and forces them to live miserable lives.
Because of this sheer cruelty, conventional battery cages have been banned in the European Union, Bhutan, New Zealand, Switzerland, and some US states.
Crammed cages
Each cage packs 5 to 10 animals together, with each hen having living space smaller than an A4 sheet of paper. They cannot walk freely, stretch completely, or flap their wings.
We want to end cages in Latin America and Southeast Asia
In cage-free production, animals can move and perform most of their natural behaviors, which significantly reduces their suffering. Going cage-free is feasible for companies in the short- and medium-term.
Since we were founded in 2017, we have achieved more than 80 cage-free commitments worldwide.
PIG INDUSTRY
Pregnant pigs are confined in tiny cages in the pig industry, where they can’t even turn around. They can only stand up and lay down, normally on concrete floors, and they spend virtually their whole lives in small crates.
Other practices in the industry include cutting the pig’s tail, teeth and performing castration without any pain relief. Since these animals live under stressful conditions, antibiotics are commonly used in healthy animals to prevent them from getting sick, which also can influence public health.
This is a strategy we currently develop only in Brazil, the fourth largest pork producer in the world
What we ask companies
Phase out gestation crates
End of surgical castration without anesthesia and analgesia
Ban ear notching
Prohibit teeth clipping and grinding will only be carried out when extremely necessary
Ban tail docking
End of use of antibiotics in animals that are not sick
DAIRY INDUSTRY
In the milk industry, male calves are "of little or no value to the dairy farmer" and often disposed of in rather cruel ways within their first months of life. In Brazil, the culling methods most commonly used are blunt-force trauma to the head (80%), bleeding out, suffocation, and other unspecified methods.
Social isolation practices are also common practice and deprive the animals of the ability to engage in important natural species-specific behaviors that are necessary for their well-being.
Moreover, early weaning and painful interventions such as hot-iron branding and mutilations –disbudding/dehorning, castration and extra teat removal– performed without any kind of pain management are common practices.
This is a strategy we currently develop only in Brazil, the fourth largest pork producer in the world
What we ask companies
Phase out of newborn calf culling and implementation of sexed semen use to prevent the birth of male calves
Milk feeding for at least 8 weeks for calves
End of individual crates and tethering
End of mutilations without anesthesia and analgesia
End of the use of antibiotics in animals that are not sick
DOES HIGHER WELFARE MEAN CRUELTY-FREE?
Ending practices such as confinement in small cages and mutilations mean a great potential to reduce animal suffering. However, in animal production, animals rarely have access to their natural behavior. They commonly feel stress and frustration and will eventually be sent to the slaughterhouse when they are no longer productive in the industry.
So even though we can reduce their suffering and bring a positive impact to their lives, the only way to avoid any suffering is to choose a plant-based diet.
These are just some of the reasons why we dream of and advocate for a world in which no animals are exploited for food or in any way.
DOES HIGHER WELFARE MEAN CRUELTY-FREE?
ENSURING THE COMMITMENTS ARE BEING FULFILLED
We've been successfully getting more companies to commit to better welfare policies for animals in Latin America and Southeast Asia. But we have to make sure this doesn't stop in promises and that the new standards are actually being fulfilled.
This is why, yearly, we publish the Cage-Free Tracker, a project that aims to follow up with companies about their advances in regards to the implementation of their cage-free egg policies.
