Safeway is North America's third-largest grocery chain, with 1,743 stores located throughout the U.S. and Canada. According to the company's new plan, which places it at the forefront of the grocery industry with regard to animal welfare, Safeway will increase its purchase of chickens and turkeys killed by controlled-atmosphere killing, increase the amount of pig meat it purchases from suppliers that don't use gestation crates and double the amount of cage-free eggs it sells to more than 6 percent by 2010, giving purchasing preference to producers of cage-free eggs.

PETA claims Safeway's new plan follows submission of a shareholder resolution--which PETA has now withdrawn--and independent discussions with The Humane Society of the United States on the issue of cage-free eggs.

"While we wish that shoppers would stick to the delicious vegetarian options that Safeway has available, the company should be commended for improving the lives and deaths of some of the animals who are killed for its stores," says PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich.

Since 2000, PETA has used high-profile campaigns and negotiations to reduce the suffering of animals who are raised and killed for food. In 2007, Burger King, Carl's Jr., Hardee's, Wendy's, and other companies made improvements similar to those that Safeway is now making.