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This excerpt taken from the TSN DEF 14A filed Dec 30, 2008. The shareholder proposal which follows is a verbatim submission by The Humane Society of the United States (“HSUS”) of 2100 L Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20037 (who has notified the Company that it owns 238 shares of Class A Common Stock), for consideration by the shareholders of the Company. All statements therein are the sole responsibility of the HSUS. This excerpt taken from the TSN DEF 14A filed Dec 26, 2006. SHAREHOLDER PROPOSAL The shareholder proposal, which follows, is a verbatim submission by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) of 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510 (who has notified the Company that it owns 248 shares of Class A Common Stock), for consideration by the shareholders of the Company. All statements therein are the sole responsibility of PETA. Shareholder Resolution re Transparency on Movement Toward Controlled-Atmosphere Killing WHEREAS Tyson kills birds with electric stunning, which involves dumping and shackling live birds, shocking them in an electrified water bath, slitting their throats, and defeathering them in scalding-hot water tanks; and WHEREAS Tyson suffers financial losses by using electric stunning:
WHEREAS controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK) is USDA-approved and reduces the financial losses of electric stunning while improving animal welfare:
WHEREAS, although CAK is optimal for birds and profits, Tyson has yet to implement it anywhere. Tyson makes vague statements alleging movement toward CAK (i.e., that it “is actively working to research and evaluate and implement different methods of animal handling and care, including…CAK”) yet has not shown the public or shareholders anything being done toward that end; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that shareholders request that the board of directors make transparent to shareholders Tyson’s progress to “research and evaluate and implement” CAK. This report should be prepared by the end of July 2007 at a reasonable cost and should omit proprietary information.
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This excerpt taken from the TSN DEF 14A filed Dec 30, 2005. SHAREHOLDER PROPOSAL
The shareholder proposal, which follows, is a verbatim submission by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) of 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510 (who has notified the Company that it owns 248 shares of Class A Common Stock), for consideration by the shareholders of the Company. All statements therein are the sole responsibility of PETA.
Chickens raised for Tyson are violently abused during gathering and shackling and are forced to endure gruesome, painful deaths by archaic slaughter and stunning methods that often include scalding birds to death or slitting their throats while they are completely conscious, as other terrified birds look on and struggle to free themselves from their shackles. Workers at our plant in Heflin, Alabama, were recently documented ripping the heads off live chickens because they could not keep up with line speeds. Other birds were mutilated by the mechanical blade that was supposed to kill them and entered the scalding feather-removal tanks while still able to feel pain. Dr. Temple Grandin, North America’s foremost expert on animal welfare, and who Tyson boasts trained the person assigned to investigate this incident, called the abuse at Heflin “a total failure on animal welfare.”
The cruelty documented in Alabama, which is a stark contrast to our company’s public claim that we are “committed to the well-being, proper handling and humane slaughter of all the animals used in our food products,” stunned the public and tarnished our image. Other companies are starting to explore a new slaughter technology known as controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK), which drastically reduces the amount of suffering that birds endure, since it eliminates live dumping, live shackling, electrical stunning, and the possibility that animals will still be conscious when their throats are slit or they are scalded for feather removal. The CAK system also eliminates worker contact with live birds, thus removing any possibility of worker cruelty to animals.
CAK involves removing oxygen from the birds’ environment and slowly replacing it with an inert gas, such as argon or nitrogen (which already make up about 80 percent of the air that we’re breathing), putting the birds to sleep quickly and painlessly. CAK, which is currently being used by some of McDonald’s suppliers in the United Kingdom, is a U.S. Department of Agriculture-approved method of slaughter and has been described by animal welfare experts as “the most stress-free, humane method of killing poultry ever developed.” The technology also has positive worker, food-safety, and carcass-quality benefits, including increased meat yield and longer shelf life. It has even been shown that the money saved by switching to a CAK system would recoup the initial investment within a few years.
Resolved: Shareholders request that the board of directors issue a report to shareholders by August 2006, prepared at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information, on the feasibility of Tyson phasing in controlled-atmosphere killing in all of our approximately 40 U.S. poultry slaughterhouses within a reasonable timeframe, with a focus on the animal welfare and economic benefits that this technology could bring to our company.
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