MEXICO CITY—Hacienda Santa Bárbara, an eco-hotel in Tlaxcala, Mexico, has committed to improving farm animal welfare by exclusively sourcing cage-free eggs for all of its menu items by the end of 2021.
Hacienda Santa Barbara is a hotel from the 17th century, which has been converted to an ecological destination, using only locally produced products to reduce its carbon footprint.
Javier Zamora, owner of Hacienda Santa Bárbara said: “We are committed to working with our suppliers to use eggs from cage-free birds. We started this project with a goal to provide our clients with the best quality food, and for us this means it must be sourced from producers who employ higher animal welfare and more sustainable production methods.”
Arianna Torres, corporate policy and program manager for HSI/Mexico, said: “We congratulate La Hacienda Santa Bárbara for committing to offer only cage-free eggs on all its menus, joining the more than 200 companies worldwide that have already made this promise.”
The lives of countless farm animals improve when companies go cage-free. In Mexico, there are tens of thousands of egg-laying hens. The country’s conventional industrial production systems confine chickens for their entire lives in tiny cages made of wire, known as “battery cages.” These cages are so small that the chickens cannot even fully stretch their wings. Common sense and science agree that restraining animals for virtually their entire lives causes significant harm, depriving them of the opportunity to express important natural behavior.
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Media contacts: Laura Bravo, Mexico: 5554561476; laurabravocom@gmail.com
Humane Society International / Mexico
Tigrane Hogbossia
MEXICO CITY—Mica and Lalo, a restaurant and agroecological market, has committed to exclusively sourcing eggs from cage-free hens and pork from producers who do not confine mother pigs to crates throughout its supply chain by the end of 2021. With this announcement, Mica y Lalo joins the growing list of more than 200 companies around the world, like Bimbo, Barilla and McDonald’s, among others, that have pledged to include only cage-free eggs and pork in their supply chains.
Micaela Patiño, owner of Mica and Lalo, said: “Regardless of which link we belong to in the food chain: producer, supplier, processor, cook or consumer, the decisions we make are not isolated. We must take responsibility for our actions and inform ourselves of the impact they have. We can no longer blindfold ourselves or let others act. The congruence of our saying with our actions will be the basis of the change we want to see.”
Arianna Torres, of Humane Society International/ Mexico, said: “We congratulate Mica and Lalo for adopting this important commitment, where they prioritize the welfare conditions of farm animals and in this way contribute not only to guaranteed freedom of movement for laying hens and pregnant sows, but also provide their consumers with food in harmony with nature.”
This commitment improves the lives of tens of thousands of laying hens in Mexico. The country’s conventional industrial production systems often confine chickens for their entire lives in tiny cages made of wire. The cages are so small that the chickens cannot even fully stretch their wings. Common sense and science agree that restraining animals for virtually their entire lives causes significant physical pain and stress.
More and more companies are adopting responsible consumption policies. HSI will continue working with Mica and Lalo and other companies to remove animal cruelty from their supply chains.
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Media contact: Laura Bravo, Mexico: 555-456-1476; laurabravocom@gmail.com
Humane Society International / Mexico
David Paul Morris
MEXICO CITY—La Hacienda San Andrés, a XVI hacienda, has committed to sourcing exclusively cage-free eggs throughout its egg supply chain by the end 2021. The hotel made this decision because of animal welfare concerns with caging systems and to emphasize sustainable, responsible sourcing.
Chef and partner of Hacienda San Andrés, Marco Margain, said: “We are committed to our consumers to provide only eggs from cage-free birds. With this we reaffirm our social responsibility and maintain the highest standards for our clients regarding animal welfare.”
Arianna Torres, from HSI/Mexico, said: “We congratulate Hacienda San Andrés gourmet hotel for deciding to serve only cage-free eggs. More and more companies are adopting responsible consumption policies, and we will continue working with Hacienda San Andrés and other companies in favor of farm animal welfare.”
With this commitment, Hacienda San Andrés joins the list of more than 200 companies in Mexico and around the world, including Grupo Bimbo, CMR Restaurants, Grupo Alsea, Toks Restaurants, Barilla and many others, that have committed to source produced in systems that provide freedom from intensive confinement.
Mexico is one of the largest egg consumer countries in the world, according to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and more than 99% of laying are confined in an area smaller than a sheet of letter-size paper, where they cannot express their natural behavior, causing physical and psychological suffering.
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Media contact: Laura Bravo, Mexico: 555-456-1476; laurabravocom@gmail.com
Humane Society International / Mexico
Shutterstock
MEXICO CITY—Global animal protection leader Humane Society International and ONG Te Protejo have welcomed a move by Mexico’s Senate to outlaw the practice of animal testing for cosmetics, as well as the manufacture, import or marketing of cosmetics tested on animals anywhere in the world after the law comes into force. Yesterday evening a bill supported by HSI and Te Protejo was unanimously endorsed by both the Senate Health Committee and the full Senate, and will now move forward to the Chamber of Deputies. Mexico is positioned to become the first country in North America to outlaw cosmetic animal testing, and the 40th globally.
Anton Aguilar, executive director of Humane Society International/Mexico, said: “We commend Senators Ricardo Monreal, Jesusa Rodríguez and Verónica Delgadillo for sponsoring this bill, and we congratulate the Health Committee and all Senators for supporting our #BeCrueltyFree campaign and voting in favor. This brings us one step closer to ending unnecessary animal cruelty in the cosmetics industry, and demonstrates Mexico’s leadership within the Americas.”
Mexican consumers are increasingly concerned about animal welfare and disturbed by such practices, and many of them prefer products that do not involve animal suffering. A 2019 Parametría poll commissioned by HSI and Te Protejo shows that 78% of citizens place importance on making sure their cosmetics are cruelty-free when purchasing a product.1 Since last November, over 20,000 people have signed the HSI-Te Protejo petition at www.selibredecrueldad.org to ban cosmetic animal testing in Mexico.
HSI’s global #BeCrueltyFree campaign was instrumental in driving the European Union to become the world’s largest cruelty-free cosmetics market, and in securing similar victories in India, Taiwan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Guatemala, Switzerland, seven states in Brazil. HSI has been at the forefront of the campaign to end cosmetic animal testing in Mexico since 2017, working with public officials and the cosmetics industry to broker an agreement on legislative reform.
Humane Society International is a leading force for animal protection, with active programs in companion animals, wildlife and habitat protection, marine mammal preservation, farm animal welfare and animals in research. Humane Society International together with its partners, constitutes one of the world’s largest animal protection organizations. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty worldwide – on the Web at www.hsi.org
ONG Te Protejo is an organization that promotes the use of products not tested on animals in Latin America and other environmentally friendly and animal-friendly initiatives. It works in four main areas: information and consumer education; mass dissemination events; cruelty-free brand certification; and campaigns to impact public policies.
More information at www.ongteprotejo.org; Facebook: Te Protejo México; Instagram: Te Protejo México; Youtube: Te Protejo.
1Poll conducted by Parametría polling agency, between October 26 and November 2, 2019, using a national random sample of 880 cases, with a margin of error of (+/-) 3.3%.
Humane Society International / Global
Arindam Bhattacharya/Alamy Stock Photo An Asian elephant (elephas maximus) eats grass in Kaziranga National Park, Assam, India
Gandhinagar — Representatives from more than 130 nations agreed to vital protections for migratory wild species at what’s being hailed as a landmark wildlife convention in Gandhinagar, India. Delegates agreed to increased or first-time conservation protection status for the endangered Mainland Asian elephant, the critically endangered great Indian bustard and Bengal florican, the jaguar, the oceanic whitetip shark, smooth hammerhead and tope shark. The circumstances of all of these species, require multi-nation conservation co-operation because their ranges traverse country boundaries.
Sixty percent of Mainland Asian elephants are found in India, and the species has been listed as Endangered in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 1986, a victim of habitat loss and increasing human/elephant conflict. The great Indian bustard, whose population has dwindled to around 150 individuals in India, is persecuted by hunting in Pakistan, and the Bengal florican has a population of less than 1000 birds, struggling to survive amidst habitat loss in India and Nepal.
Mark Simmonds OBE, senior marine scientist at Humane Society International, said: “With estimates of up to one million species at risk of extinction right now, nations have a shared responsibility to act, especially in the case of migratory species. Species such as the Asian elephant and hammerhead shark are in desperate need of attention and cooperation from the countries through which they roam, mate, give birth or feed. This truly is proving to be a landmark wildlife convention because we’ve successfully secured increased conservation protection status for many species and we can now set to work on concrete measures to protect them and their habitats.
The Asian elephant is endangered throughout much of its range, trying to survive in continually shrinking, degraded and fragmented habitat, and increasingly coming into conflict with people. Its protection will be vastly improved if range countries work together to tackle these challenges, and inclusion in CMS Appendix I will significantly aid that.”
Rebecca Regnery, Humane Society International’s deputy director of wildlife, said: “The jaguar, the largest native cat of the Americas, is now absent from more than 77% of its historic range in Central America. Despite protection in all its range states, the jaguar is threatened by illegal killing and trade. Listing on CMS will formalize range state collaboration on conservation efforts, creating an international legal framework for the first time. This will provide increased incentives and funding opportunities for this work, which is critical for curbing habitat destruction, maintaining key migration corridors and reducing violence and human deaths associated with retaliation and trafficking.”
Lawrence Chlebeck, marine biologist with HSI Australia, said, “This is a fantastic success for international shark conservation efforts. Three of the shark species hardest hit by commercial fishing will, from today, receive brand new international attention and coordination. Sharks are especially susceptible to population decline due to late maturation and low reproductive potential, and they are therefore some of the most threatened animals on our planet. International, cooperative conservation measures, such as those that will result from these listings, are absolutely vital to the ecological viability and survival of these species.”
Summary of key decisions today at CMS CoP 13
Mainland Asian elephant/Indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) added to Appendix I
Great Indian bustard and Bengal florican added to Appendix I
The jaguar (Panthera onca) added to Appendices I and II
The antipodean albatross (Diomedea antipodensis) added to Appendix I
Oceanic whitetip shark (Carcharhinus longimanus) added in Appendix I
Smooth hammerhead shark (Sphyrna zygaena) added to Appendix II
Tope shark (Galeorhinus galeus) added to Appendix II.
These decisions have been made in the convention’s ‘Meeting in the Whole’ and are subject to formal verification in the closing plenary of the CoP on 22nd February. However, as they have been agreed by consensus, this is now a formality.
MEXICO CITY—Friday, October 11, is World Egg Day, and Humane Society International, one of the world’s largest animal protection organizations, wants to draw the attention of Mexicans to the reality of egg production – in Mexico and globally – and inform consumers how they can help improve the welfare of millions of hens. Watch our World Egg Day video.
Around the world, more than 7 billion hens are raised per year. Mexico is the fourth largest egg producer in the world with 156 million laying hens.
Vivian Argüelles, animal behavior and welfare specialist for HSI/Mexico, said, “In the wild, chickens spend their day scratching and pecking the ground in search of food. They dust-bathe to keep their feathers clean and healthy. They look for different places to lay their eggs, and at night they sleep on tree branches to keep themselves protected from predators. In cages, hens cannot do any of these things.”
Several countries have totally or partially banned the use of cages for egg-laying hens, including the members of the European Union, Bhutan, India and New Zealand. In the United States, several states, such as California and Washington, have passed their own bans.
“In recent years, growing concern about and the rejection of the intensive confinement of egg-laying hens have mobilized companies, governments, universities and organizations to develop and implement alternatives that offer better welfare conditions to these animals,” Argüelles said.
Among the alternatives available in the Mexican market, there are cage-free production systems, where hens live in closed sheds and have nests in which to lay their eggs, elevated perches where they can rest, litter to scratch, peck and dust-bathe and enough space to walk, stretch their wings and fly. In free-range systems, hens also have access to an outside area where they can exercise, sunbathe and receive greater stimulation from their environment.
In Mexico, cage-free eggs are already available in supermarkets, and dozens of companies in the food industry have made commitments to buy only cage-free eggs in their supply chains by 2020, 2022 or 2025 at the latest. These companies include Grupo Bimbo, Toks, CMR, McDonalds and 100% Natural, to name a few.
Humane Society International works with food industry companies on the adoption and implementation of their cage-free policies and with poultry farmers to achieve a successful transition. The shift towards systems of greater animal welfare will continue, as more consumers say, “No” to cages and, if they consume eggs, choose cage-free.
About Humane Society International
Humane Society International and its partner organizations together constitute one of the world’s largest animal protection organizations. For more than 25 years, HSI has been working for the protection of all animals through the use of science, advocacy, education and hands on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty worldwide – on the Web at hsi.org
Humane Society International / Mexico
Michelle Riley/The HSUS
VERACRUZ—The Mexican diner chain La Parroquia de Veracruz announced its new commitment to animal welfare, pledging to source only cage-free eggs in its egg supply chain by 2025. With 32 restaurants in Mexico, the company worked with Humane Society International on the adoption of this policy, and will continue to work with the organization to complete the transition to a 100% cage-free egg supply chain at all its locations, improving the animal welfare standards of the product as well as the economic sustainability of all their processes.
Marcelino Fernández Rivero, CEO of La Parroquia de Veracruz, stated: “We are proud to offer our customers higher quality products by joining the cage-free egg movement. La Parroquia de Veracruz has corporate social responsibility policies on different issues, and it is a great pleasure for us to work to improve animal welfare in order to achieve a more responsible supply chain.”
Vivian Argüelles, animal behavior and welfare specialist for HSI/México, stated: “We congratulate La Parroquia de Veracruz for its commitment to only serve cage-free eggs in all its restaurants by 2025, and we are looking forward to working with them to ensure that the commitment is implemented. More and more corporations are adopting responsible consumption procurement policies, specifically with respect to cage-free eggs, and we invite other Mexican companies to follow this initiative.”
La Parroquia de Veracruz joins hundreds of other leading food companies committed to switching to cage-free eggs in Mexico and other regions around the world.
This commitment will improve the lives of thousands of egg-laying hens in Mexico. Conventional production systems in the country keep hens confined for their entire lives in wire cages so small they cannot even fully stretch their wings or carry out their natural behaviors. Common sense and science tell us that immobilizing animals for their lifetime in cages results in significant stress and physical pain.
IZAMAL—For the fourth consecutive year, the cruelty-free Fiesta de San Bartolo replaced Kots Kaal Pato, the brutal Yucatan ritual of stringing up animals inside piñatas and beating them to death or cutting off their heads. Humane Society International/Mexico has been working on the ground with local partners for several years now to help the community embrace a cultural change in favor of the humane treatment of animals. Through humane education and by offering alternative activities, animals are no longer victims of cruelty in the name of “entertainment.”
Felipe Marquez, HSI/Mexico animal protection expert, said: “Cruel festivities in which different kinds of animals are abused take place on a regular basis across Mexico. Ensuring the humane transformation of the Izamal fiesta is vital to proving that traditions can evolve as societies’ values become more considerate and compassionate.”
Replacing what used to be one of the cruelest festivals in Mexico, Fiesta de San Bartolo has become a family celebration, promoting sports and games such as “Carreras Argentinas,” in which young people ride bikes while trying to get prizes hanging from a wire in the main plaza.
By continuing to work with the people and authorities of the community Citilcum in Izamal, HSI/Mexico hopes that this annual event will remain cruelty-free into the future.
Mexico City—To mark World Spay Day, teams of volunteer veterinarians spayed and neutered 531 cats free of charge in Mexico City. The campaign was executed at local veterinary clinic Cemegatos with support from Humane Society International/Mexico. This is the first time the campaign surpases the 500 cats benchmark. The campaign ran Feb. 21 to Feb. 24 and involved 21 veterinarians and over 30 volunteers.
Dr. Claudia Edwards, DVM, HSI/Mexico programs director, said: “Spay-neutering is critical to address the street cats problem. People often misunderstand cats and have prejudices against them, but they are the most extraordinary pets. Cats need to be included in humane population control campaigns accessible to people without the means to pay for this service.”
World Spay Day reminds us of the power of affordable, accessible spay/neuter services to save the lives of companion animals, community (feral and stray) cats and street dogs who might otherwise be put down in shelters or killed on the street. Spay/neuter is also adviseable for pets to keep them healthy and to avoid unwanted offspring. Mexico has an acute street cat and dog problem, with an estimated 23 million free roaming cats and dogs.
