The Bell & Evans Humane Animal Welfare Standard

In the October 21, 2010 New York Times article, New Way to Help Chickens Cross to Other Side, William Neuman outlined how our new slow induction anesthesia (SIA) will be a more humane, low-stress system that gently puts the birds to sleep before they are processed.  But the story doesn’t end there.  SIA is the final step in creating a lifecycle of humane animal compassion, outlined inThe Bell & Evans Humane Animal Welfare Standard.  It’s the culmination of years of best practices in humane animal treatment.  The Bell & Evans Standard oversees all aspects of our chickens’ lives and insures the highest standards of humane animal welfare are observed in every part of the life cycle...from the breeder and the farm, to transport and the processing plant.

The HSUS (Humane Society of the United States) applauds our efforts to raise our chickens with the best quality of life.  “The Humane Society of the United States - fully supports Bell & Evans’ switch to Slow Induction Anesthesia (SIA).  The SIA system Bell & Evans has developed will improve bird welfare by eliminating live-dumping and live-shackling and worker contact with live birds,” states Matt Prescott, spokesperson for HSUS.

For the last year, we have worked closely with PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) on this project. Ingrid Newkirk, president of PETA wrote, “Bell & Evans shows that animal welfare and good business can go hand in hand.” “...and by listening to consumers’ wishes, Bell & Evans has set a new standard for the chicken-supply industry.”

Although we support GAP (Global Animal Partnership 5-Step Animal Welfare Ratings) standards for the broiler chicken industry, we feel The Bell & Evans Standard with SIA takes humane animal welfare one step further.  Leading livestock-handling authority, Temple Grandin, agrees, “...this (SIA process) will be a big step forward in chicken welfare.”