Ever since I was a little girl, I had chickens as pets, and up until today I only eat the eggs they produce. My beloved hens are smart and witty, and enjoy each day roaming in the sun in our big backyard. The idea of them stuffed in a wired cage, enduring the pain and strain of factory farming, haunts my soul. I'm a super fan of McDonald's fast food and miss their greasy goodness to bits, but I refuse to support a brand that inflicts such cruelty upon our animals.

McDonald's SA - we are NOT lovin' it! Battery cage farms are a living hell for the innocent hens who lay eggs for McDonald's South Africa.

A battery cage is a wire box, the size of an A4 paper, where hens spend their lives laying egg after egg for human consumption. These hens have no space to do any ordinary chicken activities, such as spreading their wings, nesting, walking or perching. They will most never see the sunlight or take a breath of fresh air. Extensive research shows that the hens are frustrated and suffer psychological stress. They also suffer from physical harms, including bone weakness and breakage, feather loss, and diseases. To make matters even worse, standard factory-farm practises are inflicted upon them - slicing off parts of their beaks without painkillers and manipulating their laying cycles by starving them.

In September 2015, McDonald’s publicly committed to phasing out battery cages from their supply chain in Canada and the United States within 10 years. McDonald's has also made previous animal welfare commitments, impacting its supply chains in Europe, North America, and South America. Corresponding commitments have not been made by McDonald's South Africa.

Three local animal protection groups have written to Greg Solomon (CEO of McDonald's South Africa) and Sechaba Motsieloa (Corporate Affairs Director for McDonald’s South Africa) to address the company’s use of caged eggs. Beauty without Cruelty and United Front for Animals received the exact same response: "McDonald’s South Africa takes note of the moves made by their USA and Canadian counterparts, and though we are exploring the viability of expanding McDonald’s cage-free policy to South Africa, we cannot at this stage, make a similar commitment as the one made by McDonald's USA and McDonald's Canada." SAFCEI has yet to receive a response. 

Intensive confinement is a horrid reality that our farm animals face on a daily basis. 95% of all egg-laying hens in South Africa are kept in battery cages, producing 7 billion eggs which are consumed in SA each year!

Please, sign this petition and let McDonald’s know that the humane treatment of egg-laying hens IS important to South Africans, and that McDonald's should adopt a cage-free policy for its supply chain within South Africa.

Be a voice to the voiceless! Let our demands be heard! Get McDonald's egg-laying hens out of cruel battery-cages, so we can enjoy Egg McMuffins guilt-free.