Boston, April 23, 2024 – Following the submission of a Green Century shareholder proposal, Domino’s Pizza announced its opposition to the confinement of breeding pigs in gestation crates and supports housing them in open groups instead.
“The Company supports the humane treatment of animals and will continue to exert the influence we have with the U.S. pork industry to maximize the time that pregnant sows spend in group housing, away from gestation crates,” said Domino’s in its new statement. “The Company commends efforts to eliminate gestation crate usage in the restaurant industry.”
The use of gestation crates, which confine pregnant sows for weeks or months at a time, is controversial because they harm animals and can damage the reputations of companies with their customers.
As an example, McDonald’s failure to fully implement its gestation crate-free pork pledge prompted a challenge to the company’s board in 2022. Green Century President Leslie Samuelrich ran for the board in a campaign that elevated the issue through media attention including in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg.
“There has been increasing investor concern about poor animal welfare practices in corporate supply chains,” said Samuelrich. “While we’re glad to see that Domino’s now supports group sow housing and has taken some measures to increase use within its supply chain, we encourage it to set measurable targets for achieving that goal.”
Domino’s competitor Yum! Brands, owner of Pizza Hut, recently announced it will be “working to establish measurable targets for moving to group housing and begin to externally report our findings on sow housing.”
“Confinement cages present both ethical and reputational concerns for companies involved in their use,” said Green Century Shareholder Advocate Andrea Ranger. “We hope that Domino’s and other competitors, like Papa John’s, will follow Pizza Hut’s lead in working to establish targets for shifting pork procurement away from gestation crates.”