Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has started a proxy fight with the board of McDonald's by trying to get two board seats at the company. The American tycoon has nominated Leslie Samuelrich and Maisie Ganzler for election during the company’s 2022 annual shareholder meeting.
His fight for the two seats comes over an unusual matter, at least for Icahn – the treatment of pigs by suppliers to McDonald’s. Icahn wants McDonald’s to completely ban the use of a practice known as gestation crates – where pregnant sows (female pigs) are placed in small crates and confined to this space, usually of seven feet by two feet size, during the entire period of pregnancy.
The issue is an industry-wide practice though the non-profit Humane Society of the United States, which focuses on animal welfare and works towards eliminating animal cruelty practices, had tried to get McDonald’s on board with completely cutting out the use of gestation crates through their suppliers. They had been having a hard time carrying forward their campaign until they managed to convince Icahn to champion their cause.
“Animals are one of the things I feel really emotional about,” Icahn told the Wall Street Journal recently. Pigs are known to be one of the smartest animals in the world, much smarter than dogs and on a comparable level to 3-year-old children.
Gestation crates are already banned in several US states like California and Massachusetts for most pork products and companies are increasingly turning to eliminate the usage of the practice in their supply chains. McDonald’s rival Burger King’s parent company, Restaurant Brands International, has already stated that it is working towards eliminating gestation crates for both pregnant and non-pregnant pigs.
McDonald’s for its part had agreed to stop using pork from suppliers who used the practice a decade ago, also on the behest of Icahn. But Icahn maintains that the promise is only maintained on a technicality.
The pregnant sows are only moved out of their crates once their pregnancy is confirmed, which happens four to six weeks into their 16-week pregnancy period, according to the WSJ.
“You’re just hiding behind the word pregnant. When you keep injecting semen into the sow every day, you don’t think she’s going to be pregnant?” Icahn asked McDonald’s Chief Executive Chris Kempczinski in a recent call, added the WSJ report.
McDonald’s for its part maintains that it will be sourcing 85-90 percent of its pork through “confirmed pregnant sows” that are not being placed in gestation crates by the end of the year.
“While the company looks forward to promoting further collaboration across the industry on this issue, the current pork supply in the US would make this type of commitment impossible,” McDonald’s said in a statement.
“Furthermore, it reflects a departure from the veterinary science used for large-scale production throughout the industry, and would harm the Company’s shared pursuit of providing customers with high-quality products at accessible prices,” McDonald’s added.
