Marriott: End Hen Cruelty 
  
If Marriott ran its hotels the way its egg suppliers run their factory farms, they would be filthy, small, overcrowded, and dangerous. Marriott brands itself as an upscale and luxurious hotel company, but it has a dark secret. Millions of egg-laying hens throughout Marriott’s global supply chain suffer in cruel cages. 
 
Caged hens farmed for their eggs are trapped in huge sheds in metal cages, crammed together on sloping wire floors, unable to open their wings, stand fully upright, dust bathe or move freely. Each hen has little more floor space than the size of a magazine in which to live her entire life. Her body parts can get caught in the caging, which can result in broken bones, deformities, and severe feather loss. Some hens, exhausted or unable to move, are trampled to death by their cage mates. The confinement of hens in cages is one of the most extreme methods of legalised animal cruelty in New Zealand.  
 
Hundreds of companies around the world are ditching cage eggs. They are listening to caring people who want an end to cage cruelty. Global commitments to go cage-free are being made by some of the largest companies in the world, including Wyndham Worldwide, Accor Hotels, InterContinental Hotels, Hilton Hotels, Unilever, Nestlé, Lidl, Aldi, Aramark, Sodexo, Mondelez, and Compass Group. Even budget fast food companies are moving away from this horrible practice.  
 
Marriott has recognised that cages are inhumane and outdated. In 2013, it promised customers that it would go cage-free by 2015, and Marriott received public praise for the pledged move to higher welfare standards. However, three years after that deadline has passed hens are still suffering for Marriott. Customers are tired of false promises and hollow commitments. Even Marriott’s own brand, Starwood, has made a global commitment to completely phase out cage eggs by 2025.  
 
Marriott says: “How we do business is as important as the business we do.”  Marriott needs to start prioritising how it does business. It needs to follow through on its commitments and work to meet basic animal welfare standards. It’s time for Marriott to make good on its 2013 promise and finally go 100% cage-free globally.  
  
Please sign this petition to tell Marriott that you won’t be staying at any of its hotels until it stops supporting this appalling and unnecessary animal abuse.