Animal Equality resolves lawsuit over marketing of “Wild Caught” versus “Farmed” Fish

Champion Petfoods has corrected “wild-caught” marketing claims and, as part of the resolution with Animal Equality, agreed to provide additional transparency regarding its fish sourcing practices.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Monday, Animal Equality and Champion Petfoods announced they had resolved legal claims, filed by Animal Equality earlier this year in the D.C. Superior Court, related to the pet food company’s marketing of the rainbow trout in its products.

In July 2020, Animal Equality filed a lawsuit alleging that Champion Petfoods used the phrase ‘wild-caught’ to market products that contain farm-raised trout. Champion has corrected ‘wild-caught’ marketing claims on its website and, as a part of a resolution with Animal Equality, has agreed to provide additional transparency regarding its fish sourcing practices. Champion also agreed to partner with an animal welfare consultant to provide additional animal welfare education to employees.

The parties issued a joint statement announcing the resolution, in which they expressed they “are pleased to have reached this resolution, which they believe will help bring even more clarity to the sourcing and labeling of pet food products.”

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that over 116 million tons of fish and other aquatic animals are farmed globally each year. This number is so large that production is measured by weight, not by the number of individual animals.

As a farmed animal protection organization, Animal Equality advocates on behalf of all animals raised for food, including fish and other aquatic animals raised in confined systems.