KFC suppliers cram birds into huge waste-filled factories, breed and drug them to grow so large that they can’t even walk, and often break their wings and legs. At slaughter, the birds’ throats are slit and they are dropped into tanks of scalding-hot water—often while they are still conscious. It would be illegal for KFC to abuse dogs, cats, pigs, or cows in these ways.
KFC’s own animal welfare advisors have asked the company to take steps to eliminate these abuses, but KFC refuses to do so. Many advisors have now resigned in frustation.
FACTS OF KFC DOINGS!
- The roughly 1 billion chickens killed each year for KFC's buckets are crammed by the tens of thousands into excrement-filled sheds that stink of ammonia fumes.
- The birds’ legs and wings often break because they’re bred to be too top-heavy and because workers carelessly shove them into transport crates and shackles.
- Chickens’ throats are slit and the animals are dropped into tanks of scalding-hot water to remove their feathers, often while they are still conscious and able to feel pain.
- KFC lets frustrated factory-farm and slaughterhouse workers handle live birds, so many of the animals end up being sadistically abused. At a KFC “Supplier of the Year” slaughterhouse in West Virginia, workers were documented tearing the heads off live birds, spitting tobacco into their eyes, spray-painting their faces, and violently stomping on them. This was discovered more than two years after KFC promised PETA that it was taking animal welfare seriously.
- KFC hides behind its Animal Welfare Advisory Council, even though five members of the council have resigned in frustration. One of them, Adele Douglass, told the Chicago Tribune that KFC “never had any meetings. They never asked any advice, and then they touted to the press that they had this animal-welfare advisory committee. I felt like I was being used.”
HOW TO IMPROVE?
PETA and i wants KFC to adopt the animal welfare program developed by five members of its own animal welfare board. These advisors are the world’s top poultry experts; they advise the meat industry in North America and Europe and believe that KFC can—and should—adopt them. KFC has yet to do any of the following:
- Adopt the “Animal Care Standards” program. This would lower the amount of ammonia in the air in factory farms, improve the living spaces and lighting in chicken sheds, prohibit the intentional starving of breeding birds, and ensure that birds are provided with mental and physical stimulation.
- Switch to controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK). This would prevent live birds in slaughterhouses from being abused by workers, having their throats slit, or being scalded while they were still conscious. CAK would also improve conditions for workers and decrease contamination levels in chickens’ flesh.
- Switch to mechanized chicken gathering. This would drastically reduce the number of broken bones and painful bruising that birds endure when factory-farm workers carelessly throw them into transport crates.
- Breed for health rather than rapid growth, and stop feeding drugs to chickens. This would reduce the rate at which birds suffer painful, crippling diseases and injuries, such as broken legs, heart attacks, and lung failures.
- Make all welfare standards transparent and verifiable. This would simply ensure that the animal welfare program is being adhered to through announced and unannounced independent audits (the results of which must be made available to the public through KFC’s Web site).
DO YOU WISH TO DO SOMETHING?
Sign the petition. In about 30 seconds, you can urge KFC to prevent the worst abuses of the chickens killed for its buckets. Sign the petition today!
Leaflet or demonstrate at your local KFC. Since 2003, people have protested or leafleted at KFC more than 12,000 times! Leafleting or staging a protest only takes an hour, and it sends a strong message to KFC that abusing animals is not acceptable. We offer lots of resources to help you plan and execute a successful demonstration at your local KFC—sign up to do one today! Or if you're already active leafleting or holding demos at your local KFC, please tell us about them here.Become an online activist. Get code to display videos on your blog, banners for your Web page, and other ways to help spread the word with a simple click of the mouse.
Write to KFC. The more letters that KFC gets from people who are outraged by its cruelty and pledge to join the boycott, the more likely the company is to change. Check out a list of KFC executives as well as tips on writing letters to get started.
Inform KFC employees. Print out copies of PETA’s “KFC Workers Unite!” leaflet and give them to the drive-through attendants at KFC restaurants whenever you pass one.Go vegetarian. The best way to help animals is to stop eating them. Today, it’s easier than ever to replace that cholesterol- and cruelty-laden animal flesh with healthy, tasty, and humane vegetarian alternatives. Order your free vegetarian starter kit today.
