PETA urged Safeway to follow the lead of McDonald's by instituting higher animal-welfare standards for its suppliers, but 18 months of discussions netted no improvements.

In February 2002, PETA launched a campaign against Safeway and its subsidiaries in the U.S. and Canada. Our campaign included more than 100 demonstrations in 20 states and four Canadian provinces, as well as powerful advertisements and celebrity involvement.

In May 2002, Safeway announced that it would immediately begin auditing one of its pig suppliers and would implement new minimum animal welfare standards that would initially mirror those of the fast-food giants but quickly surpass them. Safeway was the first U.S. grocery chain to make much-needed improvements in the conditions of farmed animals, as well as the first Fortune 50 Corporation to do so.

For more information on the Safeway victory, including a complete timeline, please visit Shameway.com.

In 2002 PETA ended its Shameway campaign against grocery giant Safeway after the company agreed to some animal welfare reforms regarding the meat and eggs the company sells. Six years later, following extensive further negotiations, Safeway and PETA announced a new agreement that made Safeway the industry leader on animal welfare. Safeway has promised to do the following:

• Increase its purchases of flesh from chickens and turkeys killed by controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK) -- the least cruel method of bird slaughter -- and give purchasing preference to suppliers that use or switch to CAK.
• Increase the amount of pig flesh it purchases from suppliers that don't use gestation crates -- tiny metal enclosures so small that mother pigs can't even turn around -- by 5 percent of total pig flesh sales over each of the next three years. Safeway will also give purchasing preference to suppliers that don't use gestation crates.
• Double the amount of cage-free eggs it's sells to more than 6 percent of total eggs sales by 2010, and give purchasing preference to suppliers of cage-free eggs.

While "cage-free" and "crate-free" don't mean "cruelty-free" (the best way to be cruelty-free is to go vegan) these changes will result in a dramatic reduction in suffering forhundreds of thousands of animals. Learn more about PETA's work with Safeway.

PETA received reports about a macaw display at a Colorado lodge owned by Sage Hospitality Resources. The macaw allegedly was neglected and had sustained injuries. We contacted the company to ask it to discontinue the display and place the bird, Coco, in a loving home. Not only did the company acquiesce to our request, it also decided to dismantle the macaw displays at three of its other hotels!

A San Antonio, Texas, city golf-course employee stabbed to death four feral pigs after the animals were caught in live traps at the course. PETA wrote numerous letters and submitted a legal brief explaining why the man should be prosecuted for cruelty to animals. In the meantime, the man was fired from his job, only to mount an elaborate appeal with the backing of his union. Prior to the hearing, PETA wrote to the chairperson of San Antonio's Human Resources Department, the city prosecutor representing the city, and the mayor. The man's termination was upheld, sending a powerful message to the community that the inhumane killing of wild pigs is not acceptable.