Animal Rights

Ending Corporate Abuse of Animals

From fast food restaurants to product testing laboratories, corporations are deeply engaged in the abuse of animals. Consequently, shareholders can play an important role in lobbying corporations to respect the rights of animals in several areas.

Farm Animal Welfare: Every year, Americans consume approximately 9 billion animals. For the most part, these animals are treated like inanimate objects as they are raised, transported and slaughtered. Animal rights groups are increasingly putting pressure on the largest purchasers of meat - fast food restaurants and supermarkets - to require that their meat suppliers meet basic standards of animal welfare.

Animal Testing: Public pressure has caused many companies to minimize the testing of their products on animals. Some corporations have funded research into alternatives to animal testing. Others have abandoned animal testing altogether. However, many corporations persist in using animal tests even for products where such testing is not required by law. These corporations are under continual pressure to further minimize or completely eliminate such unnecessary tests.

Sales of Fur: The use of fur in clothes has long been the target of animal rights campaigners. Retail companies selling fur continue to be the target of demonstrations at their stores and annual shareholder meetings.

Abuse of Animals in Entertainment: Circuses, rodeos and marine parks that hold animals in captivity for entertainment purposes face the constant criticism that their use of animals is inherently cruel. Animal rights groups have targeted both circus and marine park owners as well as the corporate sponsors of events such as bullfights and rodeos.

How We Screen on Animal Rights

Trillium Asset Management Corporation (”Trillium”) typically avoids investing in companies that are involved in egregious abuses of animal rights. We seek to invest in corporations that are proactive in protecting the rights of animals. We also seek companies that provide alternatives to current systems of animal abuse, such as companies that market vegetarian and growth-hormone-free foods or develop alternatives to animal tests.

We survey companies about their use of animal products such as meat and their use of animals in testing. We also investigate whether they sell fur, hold animals for use in entertainment or sponsor events such as rodeos or bullfights that are notable for their cruelty to animals.

Trillium can exclude from client portfolios corporations involved in some or all of these abuses of animal rights. Alternatively, we can apply a “best of sector” approach that screens out only those companies that lag their competitors in reducing animal testing or fail to require their meat suppliers meet basic standards of farm animal welfare.

What We’re Doing About This Issue

In 1993, Trillium the first social investment firm to file a shareholder resolution on the issue of farm animal welfare. Working with Animal Rights International, we helped persuade McDonald’s to adopt for the first time a policy regarding the humane treatment of farm animals.

In 1998, we first started working with Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK) to press companies, such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, to stop sponsorship of bullfights and rodeos. In response to SHARK’s pressure, both corporations have since stopped their bottling companies from sponsoring bullfights. We continue to work with SHARK to end corporate sponsorship of rodeos.

In 2001, Trillium resumed its work on behalf of farm animals – this time working with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). We filed a resolution with PETA at McDonald’s asking the company to make global the standards the company sets for its suppliers regarding farm animal welfare.