Activism & Animals Dormant Updated Jul 31, 2026
Costco's chicken welfare accountability fight
Where it stands, Jul 30, 2026 Mercy For Animals released undercover footage from a Costco chicken supplier farm estimated to confine 520,000 birds at once, documenting chicks crushed and buried alive, no outdoor access despite an organic label, and biosecurity failures; the group filed a legal complaint and said Costco could spare 250 million chickens a year by adopting slower-growing breeds and stronger oversight.
A Mercy For Animals undercover investigation found baby chicks crushed and buried alive at an organic farm supplying Costco's chicken, the second such exposure of a Costco supplier in five years, and documented conditions inconsistent with the certified organic label the chicken carried. Mercy For Animals filed a legal complaint and is pushing Costco to adopt enforceable chicken welfare standards across its supply chain. The fight is whether Costco changes policy or merely drops the one supplier.
What the brief said to watch
- Raised Jul 31, 2026, no date set - Whether the USDA acts on Mercy For Animals' complaint that the investigated farm's organic certification doesn't match its conditions [141]
The story so far
-
Jul 30, 2026 Latest
Mercy For Animals released undercover footage from a Costco chicken supplier farm estimated to confine 520,000 birds at once, documenting chicks crushed and buried alive, no outdoor access despite an organic label, and biosecurity failures; the group filed a legal complaint and said Costco could spare 250 million chickens a year by adopting slower-growing breeds and stronger oversight.
This fight, in numbers
Every sourced figure the brief has published on this storyline, newest first.
- 520,000 birds the investigated farm is estimated to confine at once
- 250 million chickens a year Mercy For Animals says Costco could spare by adopting slower-growing breeds and stronger oversight
- 2nd time in five years Mercy For Animals has investigated a Costco chicken supplier
Get the next update to this storyline by email.
When this fight moves, the new beat lands on this timeline and in the morning brief the same day. Follow it free, and you will know before the feeds do.
Free, every morning. Unsubscribe in one click.