Written by Jeff Mackey
Meet Feel Ideal. Practically every day that weather permits, he can be found outside his local McDonald's in Honolulu handing out leaflets explaining how chickens killed for the fast-food giant suffer and how the company—as one of the biggest sellers of chicken meat—could reduce this abuse by requiring its suppliers to switch to a more humane slaughter method.
It wouldn't be a proper protest without a poster, and Feel Ideal gave his a uniquely Hawaiian twist. Yes, it's the world's first McCruelty body board!
There's an important lesson to be learned from Mr. Ideal: You don't have to wait for a large organized demonstration to speak out against McCruelty (or any other kind of cruelty). You can make a huge statement all by yourself. And when you do, you're not really alone—PETA's got your back. Join the PETA Action Team to work together toward a kinder world for everyone.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
How do you convince lawmakers to turn a blind eye to the devastating effect that fast food has on our health? If you're McDonald's, you spend more than $1.1 million (in 2011 alone) lobbying political representatives. YUM! Brands, the owner of KFC, wasn't far behind, at $845,000.
The Center for Responsive Politics reports that the food industry "has been fighting Congress in recent years over nutritional requirements, labeling information and advertising. Fast food restaurants in particular have faced pressure due to their aggressive marketing aimed at children."
So, McDonald's and KFC both have about a cool mil lying around that they could put toward switching to controlled-atmosphere killing, a slaughter method that would prevent chickens from having their throats cut while still conscious and often being scalded to death in defeathering tanks. But instead, both companies spent it asking politicians to play fast and loose with Americans' health.
Click here to tell McDonald's and here to tell KFC that you're hatin' the way that they torture chickens. I think I know where they can find a tidy sum of cash to get started making changes.
Written by PETA
McDonald's has kicked its PR machine into high gear after a terrific undercover investigation by Mercy for Animals at Sparboe Farms, one of McDonald's primary egg suppliers, revealed that workers grabbed hens by the throat and slammed them into cages, that an employee swung a hen by her feet, that male chicks were tossed into plastic bags to suffocate, that rotting corpses of hens were left in cages with live birds, and other horrendous abuses.
In response, McDonald's announced that it will stop buying eggs from Sparboe Farms. Hang on, though—don't let McDonald's PR move lead you to believe that this will make a real difference for animals. We've seen it before. What Mercy for Animals uncovered is business as usual for factory farms, as countless PETA investigations, even of other McDonald's suppliers, have shown.
One example: A 2007 PETA investigation of a Union City, Tennessee, slaughterhouse that supplies McDonald's with much of its chicken flesh revealed that employees yanked birds out of shackles so aggressively that they broke the birds' legs, amused themselves by forcing as many as six chickens into a shackle that was designed for one bird, and forcefully slammed chickens against shackles. The electrified water bath that is supposed to stun chickens before their throats are cut was not working for two days, and slaughterhouse operators knowingly allowed tens of thousands of chickens to have their throats slit while the birds were still conscious.
It isn't good enough for McDonald's to simply switch to buying eggs from another lousy supplier with no stricter standards of "care" than the previous cruel supplier. On filthy, intensive-confinement farms—which describes every one of McDonald's and KFC's suppliers—hens are crammed into feces-filled wire cages with less space than a sheet of paper for each bird, and chicks' beaks are burned off without painkillers.
What consumers must demand are meaningful reforms and an end to the worst abuses suffered by the chickens killed for McDonald's and KFC. Here's one way to help chickens: Encourage the chains to switch to a less-cruel slaughter method called "controlled-atmosphere killing" (CAK). All the abuses that chickens suffer in slaughterhouses would be eliminated if McDonald's required its suppliers to switch to CAK, because with CAK, the birds are dead before they are shackled, bled, and scalded in defeathering tanks. Yet McDonald's and KFC have dragged their feet for years instead of switching methods, even though CAK is approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and even though McDonald's European suppliers adopted this method years ago.
Buyer beware: If you eat at McDonald's or KFC, you're eating food created via extreme cruelty to animals. Please boycott these companies and click here to tell them that you're not lovin' their chicken abuse.
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post
When pop sensation Ke$ha learned that McDonald's McCruelty is spending more than $1 billion on renovating its restaurants while still refusing to require its suppliers to upgrade to a less cruel method of slaughtering chickens, she fired off a letter to McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner calling out the company for its "Sleazy" behavior. The singer is even putting her money where her mouth is by offering McDonald's cash to help with the transition to a more humane slaughter system: "I may not have the $ that the Golden Arches has to throw around, but I'd be glad to lend a hand in helping bring your suppliers' slaughter practices into the 21st century."
The social, inquisitive chickens killed for McNuggets have their throats cut, many have their legs and wings broken, and many are dunked into the scalding-hot water of defeathering tanks while still conscious.. Meanwhile, Skinner and McDonald's continue to ignore the recommendation of the company's own animal welfare panel, which has endorsed a slaughter method that renders the birds unconscious at the start of the slaughtering process. This method, which has been approved the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is already in use by McDonald's suppliers in Europe, so there's no excuse for allowing American suppliers to continue with such cruelty.
Tell McDonald's to require American suppliers to switch to the less cruel slaughter method. As Ke$ha might say, "TiK ToK," the switch can't come a moment too soon for chickens.
Written by Heather Faraid Drennan
It was just another evening in Hollywood—the sun was sinking in a gold-and-orange blaze, throngs of tourists were posing for photos on the Walk of Fame, and some of my PETA colleagues and I gathered to spread the message that McDonald's suppliers mutilate conscious chickens.
Although a couple of teenagers who hovered around Ozzy Osbourne's star assured me that they could beat up anyone who gave us any trouble, most of the more than 300 passersby who took our leaflets were sympathetic. In fact, even the bus passengers wanted our leaflets—a convenient bus stop provided the opportunity for a certain enthusiastic (and tall) staffer to hand leaflets through the bus windows.
You can help by telling McDonald's to require its suppliers to use a less cruel chicken-slaughter method, lest the stretch of sidewalk in front of this Hollywood location give new meaning to "Walk of Shame."
Ryan Gosling has certainly earned his cape this month. First, he broke up a street fight in Manhattan. Then, the Academy Award-nominated actor leapt to the defense of chickens and turkeys on factory farms. Gosling wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on PETA's behalf calling on the agency to revoke its approval of a foam-based extermination method that kills birds by submerging them in foam to slowly suffocate them. This process can take up to 15 minutes and is as traumatic and panic-inducing as killing birds by choking them, strangling them, smothering them, or burying them alive.
"If dogs and cats were killed in this way, the person committing these acts would be charged with cruelty to animals," Gosling wrote. He went on to urge the USDA to put its stamp of approval on a less cruel alternative that uses carbon dioxide to painlessly render birds unconscious and that has already been approved by veterinary experts.
This isn't the first time that Gosling has flexed his impressive muscles in birds' behalf. He previously wrote to KFC and McDonald's urging the fast-food chains to adopt PETA's proposed animal welfare reforms.
We just love a guy who has such a drive to stick up for chicks. You can be a hero for animals, too—don't patronize McDonald's or KFC.
Written by Alisa Mullins
PETA wishes a very happy 60th birthday to rock legend Chrissie Hynde, who, when she isn't using her beautiful voice to sing platinum hits, uses it to stop cruelty to animals. From opening her vegan restaurant, VegiTerranean, to having her hit song "I'll Stand by You" featured in a heartbreaking public service announcement, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has spent decades advocating for animals. Chrissie's actions for animals are too numerous to list, but here are our six favorites:
We know that animals would agree with us, Chrissie—you rock!
It's a heaping, hearty helping of Internet Soup today, and just like Justin Bieber's tower of trophies at the Teen Choice Awards, it's guaranteed to make u smile.
"America's diner" just got a little bit finer. Denny's is now buying nearly all of its turkeys from a slaughterhouse that uses controlled atmosphere killing (CAK), the least cruel poultry slaughter method available.
Denny's positive step for animals came after PETA discussed with the chain how birds killed using CAK are put to sleep with a nonpoisonous gas, a process that is far less traumatic than traditional slaughter. These turkeys purchased by Denny's will no longer be hung upside down by their legs in metal shackles and dragged through a stunning tank of electric water before having their throats cut while they are still conscious and able to feel pain. Those who miss the blade are killed by being dumped into scalding-hot water, meant to remove their feathers.
Denny's joins Ruby Tuesday, Starbucks, Subway, Quiznos, Harris Teeter, and Winn-Dixie in beginning to source CAK poultry.
You can send Denny's a quick thank-you for taking this important step that will reduce immense suffering for all the birds people have yet to stop eating or let restaurant personnel know in person when you stop in to try their yummy veggie burger.
All right, McDonald’s, what are you waiting for?
Do PETA staff secretly play backup for Morrissey, or did all his bandmates wear our McCruelty shirts?
Moz and his group's stage wear at their York, U.K., concert was music to chickens' ears. And we're betting that after the audience chowed down on Morrissey's meatless fare and rocked out to "Meat Is Murder," they won't be committing a "drive-through" anytime soon.
To be a flock star like Morrissey, grab your McCruelty tee from the PETA catalog.
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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.