Written by PETA
Never one to shy away from speaking up for animals plainly and forthrightly, Morrissey urged fans who were upset about the tragic bombing and shooting rampage in Norway to consider the animals who face needless, terrifying deaths every day. Before launching into "Meat Is Murder" during a concert in Warsaw on Sunday, Morrissey told the crowd, "We all live in a murderous world, as the events in Norway have shown, with 97 dead. Though that is nothing compared to what happens in McDonald's and Kentucky Fried sh*t every day."
It's easy to be horrified by someone else's cruelty, but what about the cruelty that we're responsible for? As PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk points out, "Morrissey dared to speak his mind, but if we are honest about it, it makes absolute sense to suggest that instead of crying and waving roses in the air, a more effective way to show repulsion at needless carnage is to go vegetarian and to stop supporting slaughter oneself—even if only for one day a week."
We can't stop all the senseless violence in the world, but everyone can say no to bloodshed and suffering every time we eat simply by choosing plant-based foods. Please help make the world a less murderous place—get started by ordering your free vegetarian/vegan starter kit today.
You can't keep a good bird down. PETA's crippled-chicken statue was shut out of Louisville and Denver, but it has finally come home to roost in Raleigh.
PETA unveiled the new anti-McDonald's statue, which was designed by New Yorker cover artist Harry Bliss, to a receptive parade of passersby, who took home more than 400 leaflets explaining how chickens killed for McDonald's continue to suffer broken bones and wings and be scalded to death in defeathering tanks, even though a less cruel slaughter method is available. Many people wanted to talk to the PETA staff about the statue and the McCruelty campaign, and everyone flipped over the McCruelty stickers.
If you haven't already, please join our fine feathered fowl and tell McDonald's that you're hatin' it.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
PETA's newest campaign strategy against McCruelty appears to be working. We have been making unscheduled appearances at the speaking engagements of McDonald's executives in order to hold them accountable for their archaic and cruel chicken slaughter methods. When we recently interrupted McDonald's director of U.S. communications at the Online Marketing Summit in San Diego, she said on camera that she'd be willing to discuss our concerns in a sit-down meeting.
We are asking McDonald's to institute a less-cruel slaughter method for chickens raised for the restaurant called "controlled-atmosphere killing" (CAK), which is already in use by their European suppliers. Currently, chickens raised for McDonald's in the U.S. and Canada are dumped out of their transport crates and hung upside down in metal shackles. They watch other chickens have their throats cut while they wait for their turn before being scalded to death in defeathering tanks.
We hope that McDonald's will follow through and agree to talk with PETA about instituting CAK. In the meantime, please take a moment to tell McDonald's that you support less cruel methods of chicken slaughter, and sport your McCruelty gear with pride.
There's no room for McCruelty in the happiest place on Earth. Disney World told McDonald's to go take a hike in the Hundred Acre Wood and not come back, replacing the Golden Arches with …wait for it … BabyCakes vegan cupcakes!
Disney World is apparently seeking more wholesome food options for families, and BabyCakes' ridiculously good vegan treats fit the bill so well that they might even make Winnie the Pooh put down his honey pot. BabyCakes cupcakes not only leave out the dairy products and eggs, they're also organic and free of gluten and refined white sugar.
Who knows—maybe McDonald's wouldn't have been forced to walk the plank if its suppliers' slaughter methods weren't meaner than Captain Hook.
Scores of citizens lined the streets of Los Angeles' Hollywood Boulevard on Saturday to urge passersby to boycott McDonald's until it requires its suppliers to adopt an improved chicken-slaughter method. Among the 70 or so people who joined PETA in protesting McDonald's cruelty were teens and senior citizens, families and couples, and even a few dogs.
Most impressive were the kids who had created their own homemade signs to show McDonald's that people will not sit idly by while the company allows its suppliers to scald chickens to death and commit other atrocities.
Written by Joseph Mayton
When I read that Joan Jett jumped on a car hood to join PETA's protest outside the Waldorf Astoria, where McDonald's Jim Skinner was to receive a "Distinguished CEO" award (?!) last night, I started applauding.
Sure, Jim Skinner is "distinguished"—from anyone with an ounce of compassion and a kernel of common sense, that is. Why else would McDonald's continue to refuse to mandate that its American and Canadian suppliers implement controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK) in order to dramatically reduce the cruelty that they inflict on billions of animals? Chicken slaughterhouses in the U.S. have started to implement CAK, and some restaurant chains (including Quiznos, Subway, Starbucks, and Ruby Tuesday) and grocery chains (including Safeway, Harris Teeter, and Winn-Dixie) already purchase turkeys killed by CAK.
Know this: As long as Skinner and other execs at McDonald's thumb their noses at compassion, we'll continue to finger their shameful ways. Care to give us a hand?
Written by Karin Bennett
OK, we don't have the powers of The Shadow to let us know what evil lurks in the heart of Ronald McDonald, but some recent stories shed some light on who McDonald's might be hatin'.
1. Its Employees
The manager of a McDonald's in Brazil had to take the company to court to win compensation after gaining 65 pounds from having to sample the restaurant's food for a dozen years.
2. African-Americans
Another lawsuit, filed in Manhattan, alleges that three black men were told that they couldn't use the restrooms in a Kips Bay McDonald's unless they made a purchase, while a white woman was allowed to use the facilities without having to buy anything.
3. Animals (Especially Chickens)
Now that two U.S. chicken suppliers have begun implementing a less cruel method of slaughter called controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK), McDonald's has run out of excuses for continuing to subject birds to violence and injuries. Please add your voice today to those calling on McDonald's to require its suppliers to use CAK to spare chickens from unnecessary suffering.
Written by Jeff Mackey
It wasn't your average Chicken Dance: A pink stretch Mini Cooper delivered a troupe of little people dressed as dancing chickens to a PETA protest outside a McDonald's in New York's Times Square yesterday afternoon. "I Am Not a Nugget!" declared each of the little "chickens" with signs and dance.
The "chickens" paraded in front of the restaurant and stormed the door when the manager opened it to scream at them to move. They all tried to get inside, causing a commotion and preventing anyone from getting in or out for several minutes. When someone put a box of McNuggets in the hands of one of the performers, he held up a nugget for the cameras and yelled, "They break our wings! They break our legs!" and then threw it on the ground.
Flocks of tourists watched the chickens perform their choreographed musical protest against McDonald's suppliers' outdated and outrageous slaughter methods, which cause millions of conscious birds to suffer broken bones and many to die in tanks of scalding-hot water.
McDonald's European suppliers already use a slaughter method that renders chickens unconscious while they're still in the transport cages—and two slaughterhouses in the U.S. have begun to implement the new system, controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK). But McCruelty still refuses to require its U.S. suppliers to upgrade to CAK. Until it does, PETA's protests, both big and small, will continue. Please join us in speaking up for chickens.
A big thank you to Centerfold Strips, which approached PETA to volunteer its professional dancers for this protest!
If you've kept up with our campaigns, you're well aware of the horrors of the factory farms and slaughterhouses that supply chickens to greasy fast-food joints such as KFC and McDonald's. After learning about the cruelty that goes into making every "Happy Meal" (more like Unhappy Meal), some PETA members took to the streets to turn the tables on old Ronald.
Check out these photos, and then send a letter to McDonald's and let officials there know that you won't stand for any more McCruelty.
Written by Lianne Turner
It's the second-ever Win It Wednesday here at the PETA Files, and we have a fun one for you this week. To celebrate the launch of McCruelty.com, we're giving away "Unhappy Meals" to 10 lucky commenters. An Unhappy Meal is a lot like a McDonald's Happy Meal—it comes with toys, anyway—but our version also contains a super-sized order of reality at no extra charge. It includes a bloody chick who's so drugged up that he can't stand on his own feet as well as a cow whose throat was cut while she was still conscious—all inside a carton printed with the facts about McDonald's cruelty.
How do you win? Just leave us a comment letting us know what you'd say to Ronald McDonald if you could. I know you'd all like to give him a piece of your mind, but try to keep it PG-13 so that your comment will be approved. The 10 cleverest commenters will receive one of these limited-edition Unhappy Meals.
The contest ends on March 4, 2009, and we'll choose 10 winners on March 5, 2009. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. Check back every Wednesday for new prizes. Good luck!
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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