Written by PETA
Nothing says "all-American" quite like the mass slaughter of animals, right? Um, yeah—didn't think so. These chic-with-a-beak supporters and several other friends to chickens hit the streets outside the McCruelty-sponsored All American Basketball Games during rush hour in Columbus, Ohio, yesterday. They were urging passersby to boycott McDonald's fowl fouls and petition the company to switch to suppliers that use "controlled-atmosphere killing" (CAK), a humane play that would eliminate many of the worst abuses suffered by chickens at slaughter.
People outraged by McCruelty are signing up to host McCruelty demos in their cities, while others are pushing for Ronald's retirement. Which will you choose?
Written by Logan Scherer
The recent theft of bleachers from Chicago's Orr High School has left students without seating and robbed them of their school spirit. "It felt good to be out there beating on the drum, rooting the team on. All the people from the community coming to support us and everything. And now you wake up and all the seats are gone," said one student.
Well, PETA has just the thing to raise morale at Orr High and the community's awareness of the suffering that's endured by chickens who are killed for McNuggets. We're offering the school $5,000 and a veggie-burger lunch in exchange for placing this McCruelty ad on its new bleachers:
If there's one thing rivaling teams and fans can agree on, it's that scalding chickens in defeathering tanks is a real fumble. By spreading the message that McDonald's needs to push its suppliers to adopt controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK)—a less cruel method of slaughtering chickens—Orr High could rally for chickens every day of the week.
In a recent fire on an Ohio egg farm, 250,000 hens died after they were left in two sheds that had the electricity knocked out in order to battle the fire. Once the fire was squelched, all the birds were "euthanized" (we don't know how they were killed) because, according to a spokeswoman for Ohio Fresh Eggs, it was the "humane thing to do."
First, take a minute to soak in the fact that there were more than 250,000 hens crammed into two sheds. Chickens on egg farms are packed into battery cages so tightly that they don't even have enough room to lie down, and the cages are stacked from floor to ceiling. They have their beaks seared off without being given any painkillers, and for up to two years they endure relentless cycles of egg-laying. When they become too weak to produce eggs they are trucked to slaughterhouses, where their legs are slammed into metal shackles and they have their throats cut while they are still conscious and able to feel pain.
Animals who are crammed by the thousands into warehouse-like buildings are often out of luck when disaster strikes, because it's not cost-effective for farm operators (and they certainly don't care enough) to take the time to implement evacuation plans. The loss of life caused by fires, floods, and other disasters is all too common on factory farms.
Of course, any animal who has suffered through a tragedy like this should be given a humane release from pain, but the representative also declined to comment on the method that was used to kill these poor chickens. If it's anything like the way many egg farms "euthanize" their male chicks—by leaving them to suffocate in plastic bags or by sending them through giant meat grinders while they are still alive—then I would say that "humane" isn't part of the equation.
Want to make sure that tragedies like these don't continue to occur? Go vegan.
Written by Heather Drennan
Ryan Gosling is the heartthrob with a heart of gold—and now he's got a message for the Golden Arches: Stop scalding chickens to death in defeathering tanks. The Oscar-nominated actor just fired off a letter on PETA's behalf to McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner asking him to adopt a less cruel slaughter method. Controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK), which McDonald's European suppliers already use, would eliminate the worst abuses currently faced by chickens who are killed for McNuggets.
Ryan himself said it best in Half Nelson: "The only constant is change." By changing to a more humane slaughter method, McDonald's would evolve and show the world some compassion for animals. If you could say anything to McD's, what would you tell them?
Thanks to the quick action taken by more than 5,000 PETA U.K. supporters, the European Union (E.U.) has just rejected Poland's proposal to delay a historic ban on battery cages for hens! In 1999, the E.U. passed the Laying Hens Directive—legislation that requires an end to the use of battery cages by 2012. Polish officials lobbied to delay the ban until 2017, but thanks to everyone in Europe who took the time to write to the U.K.'s minister of state for farming and the environment, Jim Fitzpatrick, the E.U. will stand by its original plan to ditch the cruel contraptions.
The production of a single egg means 34 hours of suffering for a hen. In the E.U., 300 million hens are crammed into filthy wire-mesh battery cages stacked tier upon tier in huge warehouses. The birds are packed into the cages so tightly that they are unable to spread even one wing, and they suffer crippling leg injuries from standing on wire cage floors 24 hours a day, seven days a week. When they get too old to lay eggs, they're thrown into transport crates and shipped to slaughter. Battery cages deny every one of a hen's natural instincts, including nesting, perching, scratching, and pecking.
You can help end hens' suffering by taking the pledge to be vegan today.
What do you call it when a KFC is "closed for cruelty"? A goreclosure!
For more than a year, dedicated animal advocates have been holding monthly demonstrations outside a KFC in North Carolina to spread the word about KFC's tormented chickens—and watching the restaurant's business dwindle. Now, so many people have washed their hands of KFC's blood that the location has recently shut down!
The only thing better than vegan party food? Knowing that no chicken will ever leave that building in a KFC bucket again. Inspired to instigate a goreclosure in your community? Start organizing your own KFC protest today!
Sometimes all you need is a sign—and with our new McCruelty Sign Generator, you can create one for McDonald's McCruelty. Design your own slogan and expose the painful slaughter behind the "billions and billions" of chickens served. Check out a few signs that the bloggers have already generated:
We can't wait to see your signs!
In the aftermath of the recent record-breaking snowstorms that hit the East Coast, it is being reported that the roofs of up to 50 chicken sheds throughout the Delmarva Peninsula in Delaware and Maryland have collapsed under the weight of the snow. As a result, thousands of birds have likely suffered and died in the rubble of these buildings.
These storms were predicted well in advance, which means that farm operators had ample time to figure out how to deal with the snowfall. All responsible farmers should always have an emergency evacuation plan in place for situations like this one. Now, we're writing to Delaware and Maryland officials urging them to investigate and insisting that cruelty-to-animals charges be brought if evidence is found to warrant them. If some farm operators did nothing to prevent the roof collapses or to evacuate the chickens, and any animals died as a result of their inaction, then those farmers are directly responsible for the animals' deaths.
The best way to prevent fatal accidents like this? Decrease the demand for chickens and other farmed animals by going vegan.
This morning, hundreds of McDonald's owners and operators who flew to Tucson for a corporate seminar heard an unlikely speaker: PETA V.P. Dan Mathews. Our own "Rabble Rouser" took over the podium at the Westin La Paloma Resort during the opening presentation to urge franchisees to convince McDonald's to switch to more humane slaughter methods.
Dan's, uh, "keynote address" centered on a topic that the company would rather ignore. McDonald's suppliers use an outdated killing method that causes birds to have their throats cut while they are still conscious, many of them to suffer broken wings and legs, and many to be scalded to death in defeathering tanks. PETA—along with members of McDonald's own animal welfare advisory panel—has urged the company to upgrade its slaughter method to controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK), which would eliminate the worst forms of cruelty, but so far McDonald's refuses to listen.
If you could speak at a McDonald's convention, what would you say?
Written by Shawna Flavell
Nothing ruins a road trip more than seeing an 18-wheeler driving down the highway crammed tight with animals destined for slaughter. From state to state, regardless of weather, animals are carted from factory farms and feedlots—where they suffer short, miserable lives—to slaughterhouses, where their throats are cut or they are scalded alive in baths of hot water. In transit, they are forced to face the blazing summer heat or freezing winter winds while being deprived of food, water, or rest—and sometimes they become the victims of highway accidents.
Today, we're thrilled to report that at PETA's request, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has instructed its 8,000 inspectors in procedures to help enforce the 28-Hour Law—a federal statute requiring that cows, pigs, and other farmed animals be fed, watered, and allowed to rest after 28 hours on the road. As a result of this regulatory nudge, transport conditions will improve for the estimated 50 million farmed animals who are annually transported for long distances and denied their basic necessities.
The FSIS's notice to its inspectors helps address the deplorable treatment of animals in transit from factory farms to slaughterhouses. A former pig transporter told PETA that pigs are "packed in so tight, their guts actually pop out their butts—a little softball of guts actually comes out." In hot weather, many cows who are on their way to slaughter collapse in the heat, and in the cold, cows sometimes freeze to the sides of the truck until workers pry them off with crowbars. Like cows and pigs, chickens are usually given no food or water and are shipped through all weather conditions. People who spot chicken-transport trucks on the highway frequently report seeing the heads of dead and dying chickens protruding from the crates.
We applaud FSIS for informing its inspectors of how they can report suspected violations of the 28-Hour Law for investigation. Of course, the only true way to prevent the suffering of animals used for food is to go vegan, but with these landmark actions, what was once a nightmarish and often fatal trip will hopefully become a little more bearable.
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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