WASHINGTON—Today, search giant Google’s informal corporate motto, “Don’t be evil,” was further embraced by the company. The nation’s largest animal protection organization announced that Google has become an animal welfare leader by discontinuing its use of eggs from hens confined in cages in all of its employee dining facilities. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) praised the new policy as an important advance in the growing trend away from battery cage eggs.
“Google has always been a leader in social responsibility, which is why we are proud to exclusively use cage-free eggs in all of our corporate dining facilities,” stated John Dickman, Global Food Services Manager for Google.
Google is expected to have twelve corporate cafés by the end of 2006. The company uses 300,000 shell eggs and 7,000 pounds of liquid eggs each year.
“By ending its use of battery cage eggs, Google is acting as an engine for positive change for animals,” commented Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of The HSUS. “We encourage other corporations to adopt similar cage-free egg policies.”
Mountain View, CA-based Google joins AOL, along with several grocery chains such as Whole Foods Market, Wild Oats Natural Marketplace, Jimbo’s Naturally, and Earth Fare in eliminating its use of battery cage eggs. Trader Joe's recently converted all of its brand eggs to cage-free. Palo Alto-based food service provider Bon Appétit is also phasing in cage-free eggs for all of its 400 cafés, including major corporate clients such as Yahoo!, Oracle Corporation, Cisco Systems, Adidas, Best Buy, and Nordstrom.
And more than 85 schools have enacted policies to eliminate or greatly decrease the use of eggs from caged hens, including Dartmouth College, University of New Hampshire, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Tufts University, and Georgetown University.
In the United States, approximately 95 percent of eggs sold come from hens confined in barren “battery cages,” wire enclosures so small the birds can’t even spread their wings or engage in many other natural behaviors, such as nesting, foraging, perching, and dust bathing. The cages are stacked one on top of another inside huge warehouses on factory farms. Each bird is afforded less space than a single sheet of paper on which to live, leading to extremely high levels of stress and frustration.
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The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization with 9.5 million members and constituents. The HSUS is a mainstream voice for animals, with active programs in companion animals, disaster preparedness and response, wildlife and habitat protection, animals in research, equine protection, and farm animal welfare. The HSUS protects all animals through education, investigation, litigation, legislation, advocacy and field work. The non-profit organization is based in Washington and has field representatives and offices across the country. On the web at www.hsus.org.
