Ongoing Commitment to Animal Welfare

Humane handling on the farm 

Our global animal welfare approach includes initiatives that promote continuous engagement and the development of a positive animal welfare culture, as well as accountability for animal wellbeing throughout an animal’s life.

Humane handling at processing

All animals processed by Cargill are stunned prior to processing. This renders an animal unconscious before it is processed so it is insensible to pain, discomfort and stress, until death occurs. Cargill ensures that all conventional meat and poultry comes from animals that have all been rendered unconscious prior to processing. Humane handling also encompasses facility design, training of animal-handling personnel, organizational guidelines and policies and regulatory compliance. 

Transport

Cargill’s global businesses abide by regional and local animal transportation regulations and transit times. In regions of the world where transportation regulations may not exist, we adhere to industry best practices and animal welfare transportation requirements of third-party external guidelines and audits.

Our plants and supply chain partners work with transporters to schedule journey times and trips that minimize animal stress as much as possible. This applies to all species of animals across all geographies where we have animal protein businesses.

Industry standards and guidelines

For some regions in which we operate, there are voluntary industry standards and guidelines that have been developed by scientific committees. These voluntary standards are species-specific and go beyond government regulations. Cargill has supported and adopted many of these industry standards including:

• Development of China’s first animal welfare standards for farm animals;
• Participating in the development of Canada’s Codes of Practice as a member of the National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC)
• Participating on the National Chicken Council and National Turkey Federation animal welfare committees that develops U.S. industry guidelines.

Often these standards are the foundation for third-party audits as well as internal audits required within our supply chain. We ensure that we meet our policy commitments, in part, through internal and external audits. Although we do not publicly disclose our audit results, we are stringent about, and committed to, maintaining a high level of animal welfare performance, ensuring that we meet or exceed audit requirements.

Government regulation

All animals under Cargill’s care are given care that meets or exceeds government regulations. These regulations were created to ensure livestock and poultry are handled humanely at processing facilities. Producers, transporters and company employees are obligated by law to abide by these regulations.