GAIA action
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18 November 2025

Brussels, 18 November 2025 – While most of the sector has already joined the Better Chicken Commitment, McDonald’s stubbornly chooses to remain on the sidelines. Under the guise of misleading ecological arguments, the chain refuses to protect the chickens it profits from, thereby continuing to condone avoidable cruelty.

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In June 2025, GAIA investigators filmed two French farms supplying McDonald’s. The footage reveals a devastating reality:

  • birds bred for ultra-fast growth, multiplying their weight by 60 in just 42 days.
  • animals unable to walk, drink or stand, agonising on the ground.
  • chickens suffering from bone deformities, paralysis, respiratory problems and tumours.

The BCC, what is it?

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Launched in 2016 at the initiative of GAIA and 30 other animal protection organisations across Europe, the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) sets standards to improve the welfare of broiler chickens. These requirements aim to reduce the suffering of farmed animals.

Scientific studies show that the BCC improves the health of chickens while reducing environmental impact. McDonald’s has no excuse left.

Ann De Greef
CEO of GAIA

This morning, GAIA takes a strong stand to denounce the hell in which millions of chickens destined for McDonald’s menus live. Footage shot in June 2025 at French farms supplying the chain reveals unacceptable farming conditions: birds crammed into dark barns, unable to walk or stand, suffering from bone deformities, tumours, and extreme stress.

A shocking action across Belgium

To alert the public and McDonald’s, GAIA is displaying a huge red shoe – Ronald McDonald’s – in several Belgian cities. Under this shoe, crushed chickens serve as a reminder of the real fate of the animals behind every Chicken McNugget.

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Previous actions by GAIA

For several years, GAIA has been calling out McDonald’s over the living conditions of broiler chickens.

  • In 2023, the McDon’ts campaign projected images of the suffering endured by broiler chickens on giant screens in front of several restaurants.
  • In 2024, GAIA struck again with Unhappy Meal, a macabre parody of the famous children’s menu exposing the hidden horror behind the red and yellow box.

Despite these repeated calls, overwhelming evidence, and even a joint victory in 2008 to end the castration of piglets, McDonald’s still refuses to improve the farming conditions of its chickens—citing questionable ecological arguments and offering a “dialogue” conditioned on censoring GAIA’s campaigns.

Act now

GAIA calls on consumers to hold McDonald’s accountable and demand immediate adherence to the Better Chicken Commitment. Millions of chickens suffer every year for our menus—it’s time for this cruelty to end.