McDonald’s will now require chicken suppliers, including Tyson and Cargill, to treat animals more humanely at slaughter. “Birds sold to the chain … no longer will be shocked, shackled by the feet to conveyors and have their throats slit …,” says The Los Angeles Times. “Such methods can leave chickens fully conscious when they are slaughtered.”
Instead the companies will use a gassing system to render the birds unconscious before they are killed. “Chickens also will live in brighter enclosures where they have access to perches and can more readily engage in natural behaviors such as dust bathing and pecking,” says the Times.
The changes are slated to be implemented by 2024, impacting about 70 percent of McDonald’s chicken supply.