Written by PETA
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!
Written by Michelle Sherrow
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.
It looks like the Pearly Gates aren't too far away from the Golden Arches. Snapped outside a McDonald's near PETA's headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, this photo gives new meaning to the phrase "Big Mac attack":
Written by Jared Misner
Chicago's O'Hare said "Oh, no!" to PETA when we offered to buy one of the airport's new high-tech mirror ads. Our ad would have filled a bathroom mirror, then shrunk to the corner when someone approached, and it would have warned them about McDonald's cruelty to chickens.
The airport rejected our ad on the grounds that it "targeted a specific airport advertiser." Apparently, O'Hare was afraid that letting people know that McDonald's suppliers scald live chickens in steaming-hot defeathering tanks would anger the Chicago-based fast-food giant.
Once again, big money talks, but you can talk back. Let McDonald's know that you want it to switch to the less cruel slaughter method recommended by PETA, which would eliminate the worst slaughterhouse abuses.
Remember season three of Dexter when the Miami P.D. is hunting a killer dubbed the "Skinner"? Our new "wanted" poster features another "Skinner": Jim Skinner, the CEO of McDonald's, a man who allows millions of chickens to be scalded to death by McDonald's suppliers every year.
PETA is used to having our "skin" ads rejected, but our Skinner ad didn't please the censors either. Not to be deterred, we took our message to the streets by erecting stands emblazoned with Skinner's image all over Chicago, where McDonald's is headquartered. The stands dispense free leaflets about Skinner and his McCruelty to chickens.
If scalding chickens to death has you seeing red, e-mail Jim Skinner and tell him to require his company's suppliers to switch to a less cruel slaughter method that would eliminate the worst slaughterhouse abuses.
In what appears to be a violation of PETA's First Amendment right to free speech, the city of Little Rock, Arkansas, is denying our application for a permit to display our crippled-chicken statue near a McDonald's restaurant.
In a rejection letter, Little Rock City Attorney Thomas Carpenter blamed "public safety concerns." But not only would our proposed location not interfere with foot traffic, the city has also granted countless other permits to place large items, such as benches, on the sidewalk, presumably with no "public safety concerns."
Is Little Rock afraid that the backup of people rubber-necking at the statue will cause a traffic jam? Or does it just not want its residents to learn that McDonald's suppliers slam chickens upside down by their legs into metal shackles, often breaking their wings and legs, cut their throats while they are still conscious, and scald the survivors to death in defeathering tanks?
While we're wrangling with Little Rock, you can e-mail McDonald's and tell the company that you won't be caught dead near an Unhappy Meal until its suppliers switch to the less cruel slaughter method that PETA is requesting.
Most kids get butterflies in their stomachs when they have to read a book report aloud in class. This week, bright elementary student Rose McCoy spoke before hundreds of McDonald's investors and executives at the company's annual meeting. Armed with 20,000 of the nearly 125,000 signatures that PETA collected from young consumers, our superstar volunteer brilliantly made our shareholder resolution stand out in the room full of suits. She asked the fast-food behemoth to require its suppliers to switch to a less cruel method of slaughtering chickens.
"Controlled atmosphere killing," already in use by McDonald's European suppliers, prevents birds from having their throats cut while they are conscious and from being scalded to death in defeathering tanks. Rose, a lifelong vegan, told the shareholders, "Kids like me love animals, and we don't want to see them suffer anymore for McNuggets. If McDonalds can spend a billion dollars to make its restaurants look pretty, then can't it make this simple change?"
Please join Rose in asking McDonald's to stop the worst abuses of chickens in its suppliers' slaughterhouses.
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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