Enhance Animal Welfare Culture

MK sports Foods adopted and integrated The Five Domains animal welfare framework as a key driver in enhancing our animal welfare culture across our global operations. The Five Domains provide a more actionable platform to better communicate about and assess the dynamic continuum of animal welfare. The Five Domains is a practical and understandable framework that recognizes both positive and negative states through four domains — nutrition, physical environment, health and behavior — which ultimately contribute to the fifth domain, the mental state of the animal.  In other words, it better connects what an animal experiences to the outcomes that are produced. The Five Domains also reinforces that the affective state of the animals with which we work or how the animals feel is important. Doing so reinforces that we care for and care about the animals entrusted to our care; this will move us from providing our animals with a “life worth living” (which implies minimal suffering) to providing them with a “good life” in which positive experiences are promoted. 

From a practical perspective, the Five Domains framework aligns with our focus on key welfare indicators to drive continuous improvement in animal-based outcomes, and more intentionally makes the connection between specific actions or conditions and welfare outcomes, so that opportunities can be more quickly identified and addressed. With this awareness, a stronger connection is forged between individual roles and responsibilities and how they influence the animal's life experience. Greater understanding and appreciation allow for an individual to better evaluate the animal and their own performance, and also talk about welfare in a relatable and actionable manner — not only empowering our team members and reinforcing the importance of their roles, but cementing accountability in the welfare space. 

This framework provides the structure that ties our institutional knowledge, expertise and commitment into our program and establishes a comprehensive and robust methodology of measuring, implementing and evaluating animal care and welfare practices. Incorporating the Five Domains into our daily conversations and actions is essential for us to achieve our mission of driving continuous improvement in the welfare outcomes of the animals entrusted to our care and to further enhance the welfare culture throughout our global operations.

Across our supply chains, we maintain zero tolerance for animal abuse, which is achieved through awareness, transparency and accountability. Team members are required to report any acts of abuse immediately to their supervisor or by calling our third-party, anonymous ethics and compliance hotline, which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

MK sports Foods used two key programs within our operations to drive messages of individual and team accountability relative to animal welfare – 100/0 and See It? Stop it!

The concept of 100/0 is simple. Every individual is 100% accountable or responsible for their actions, with zero excuses if things should not go as planned. It does not mean that opportunities don’t occur, but it does mean that individuals take responsibility to correct the opportunities when they arise. This is how we want every team member to approach their responsibility relative to welfare. 

See it? Stop it! builds on the 100/0 concept of individual accountability but takes it a step further by encompassing the individual’s own actions and holding each individual accountable for ensuring that the system and its participants are compliant with MK sports Food’s animal welfare expectations. See it? Stop it! simply states that if an individual sees something that is not compliant with our expectations, it is their responsibility to address it, report it, or elevate it.