Fast-Food Giant Lags Behind Rivals in Preventing Slaughterhouse Abuses

For Immediate Release:
November 19, 2008

Contact:
Matt Prescott 757-622-7382

Oak Brook, Ill. -- PETA, which owns 79 shares of McDonald's stock, has submitted a shareholder resolution calling on the Oak Brook–based fast-food giant to issue an updated report on the feasibility of purchasing chicken meat from suppliers that use a less cruel method of poultry slaughter called "controlled-atmosphere killing" (CAK). McDonald's last report on CAK, issued in 2005, determined that it was less harmful and stressful for chickens and resulted in improved meat quality. Despite those findings, McDonald's hasn't moved toward CAK even though several of its rivals--including Burger King and Wendy's--have. McDonald's is the world's largest fast-food chain, with more than 31,000 locations in about 120 countries.

Trillium Asset Management Corporation, a Boston-based investment firm, co-filed the shareholder resolution with PETA.

Currently, chickens killed by McDonald's suppliers in the U.S. are dumped onto conveyors and hung upside-down by their legs in metal shackles--often causing broken bones--and their heads are run through an electrified bath that gives them painful shocks without rendering them insensible to pain. They are often still conscious when their throats are slit, and many are scalded to death in defeathering tanks.

With CAK, the oxygen that chickens breathe is slowly replaced with inert, nonpoisonous gasses--such as argon and nitrogen--putting the birds "to sleep" quickly and painlessly. Studies of CAK conclude that in addition to being the least cruel form of poultry slaughter, it also reduces labor costs, improves working conditions, increases meat yield and quality, and reduces the potential for contamination.

Chicken retailers Burger King, Carl's Jr., Hardee's, and Wendy's--as well as several major grocery chains, including Safeway and Winn-Dixie--are now giving purchasing preference or consideration to suppliers that use CAK.

"Controlled-atmosphere killing is better for birds and McDonald's bottom line," says PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich. "Consumers care about animal welfare, so the last thing the company needs is to be associated with animal abuse."

For more information, please visit PETA.org/cak.

PETA's resolution follows.

Shareholder Resolution Regarding Animal Welfare

RESOLVED that shareholders request that the Board of Directors issue an updated report on the feasibility of McDonald's incorporating chickens killed by controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK) into its U.S. supply chain. The report should be prepared by November 2009 and should exclude proprietary information.

Supporting Statement

McDonald's U.S. chicken suppliers currently use a cruel and inefficient slaughter method called "electric immobilization". This involves shackling live birds, shocking them with electrified water, cutting their throats while they are conscious, and removing their feathers in tanks of scalding-hot water. Birds suffer broken bones, bruising, hemorrhaging, and abuse by slaughterhouse workers during the shackling process, resulting in serious animal welfare problems and a reduction in meat quality and yield. Birds also peck and scratch at each other, and they are often scalded to death in defeathering tanks, further decreasing animal welfare and increasing carcass contamination.

The animal welfare and economic problems associated with electrical immobilization systems are absent in CAK systems, which use gas to kill birds while they are still in their transport crates.

Among the findings of a 2005 report commissioned by McDonald's were the following points about gas slaughtering of poultry:

 ◦ "When compared to [electrical] stunning … [it] has advantages from both an animal welfare and a meat quality perspective."
 ◦ It "obviates potential distress and injury …."
 ◦ It "can expeditiously and effectively stun and kill broilers with relatively low rates of aversion or other distress."

The report further concludes that McDonald's suppliers that use CAK (e.g., in Europe) have experienced improvements in bird handling, stunning efficiency, working conditions, and meat yield and quality.

Since McDonald's 2005 report was produced, various scientific reports and poultry-industry articles about gas slaughter systems have been released, and numerous poultry retailers have made more progress on moving toward CAK. For example, many companies--including Burger King, Carl's Jr., Hardee's, Safeway, Harris Teeter, and Winn-Dixie--have enacted policies to move toward or phase in the use of poultry killed by CAK, and Canadian KFCs will soon be using only chickens killed by CAK.

It is in shareholders' best interests that McDonald's produce an updated report on the feasibility of incorporating chickens killed by CAK into its U.S. supply chain, taking into account scientific and industry advancements in CAK since its 2005 report was produced.