Roundy’s Asked by PETA Shareholders to Help Stop Calf Mutilations

Resolution Calls On Grocery Chain to Join General Mills, Dunkin’ Brands, and Other Businesses in Pushing for an End to Painful Dehorning

For Immediate Release:
May 14, 2015

Contact:
Shakira Croce 202-483-7382

Grocery chains and other companies across the U.S. have started doing something novel: taking action to spare calves on dairy farms the intense pain of a little-known procedure called “dehorning,” in which calves’ horn tissue is burned out of their skulls or dug out with a sharp metal scoop. But grocery chain Roundy’s (which owns Pick ‘n Save and Rainbow Foods, among others) has refused to take action. That’s why at the company’s annual meeting in Chicago on Friday, PETA—which owns stock in the company—will present a shareholder resolution calling on it to push its suppliers to breed for polled, or naturally hornless, cattle.

When:             Friday, May 15, 2 p.m.

Where:           Chicago Marriott O’Hare, 8535 W. Higgins Rd., Chicago

Companies that have encouraged an end to dehorning include General Mills (which markets brands such as Häagen-Dazs and Yoplait), Denny’s, Nestlé, and Dunkin’ Brands (which owns Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins). Since PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—began working with companies on this issue three years ago, the number of polled Holstein bulls in the U.S. has increased eightfold.

“While companies across the U.S. are pushing their dairy suppliers to phase out cruel dehorning, Roundy’s is sitting on its hands,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA wants Roundy’s to do the right thing by sparing calves the excruciating pain of having the horn tissue burned out of their heads with scalding-hot irons and caustic chemicals.”

As revealed in actor Casey Affleck’s video exposé, cows struggle desperately and cry out in pain during dehorning, which is routinely performed without giving them any painkillers.

PETA’s shareholder statement is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA.org.