Williams Sausage Company to Phase Out Gestation Crates

Williams Sausage Company recently announced that it will discontinue the use of gestation crates. “Williams Sausage Company takes the welfare of animals very seriously, and we support the elimination of gestation stall housing for sows,” wrote Roger Williams, the company’s CEO, in a letter to The Humane Society of the United States. “Working together with our suppliers, Williams Sausage is committed to continuous improvement of animal-welfare practices in our industry.” He notes that it could take up to 10 years for the phasing-out effort to be complete. Abandoning the confining sow cages has been a rising trend in the food industry; other companies that have begun to withdraw them from their farming practices include Oscar Mayer, Wendy’s, and McDonald’s.