Burger King buys many of its animal products from IBP, the world’s largest meat-packing company. Employees at an IBP meat-packing plant in Washington state were recently caught on videotape slaughtering and dismembering conscious cattle. According to slaughterhouse workers, the killing line moves so fast that it’s impossible to stun all the animals properly. But because the demand for flesh is so great, the line is never slowed down. To date, Burger King has ignored PETA’s requests to ensure that all pigs and cows are rendered unconscious before slaughter.

Laying hens are crammed seven or eight to a cage the size of a file drawer. These battery cages are so cruel that they are illegal in some countries and are being phased out in others, including the U.K., where Burger King’s parent company is based. Laying hens’ beaks are cut off with a hot blade to prevent them from fighting for space with other hens. In a process called “forced molting,” they are starved for up to 14 days in order to force them to begin another egg-laying cycle.

Pork comes from pigs raised in small, crowded pens. Pregnant pigs are kept confined in stalls so small that they cannot comfortably lie down or even turn around. These cement “gestation stalls” have been outlawed in the U.K.

Chickens raised for their flesh are crammed by the tens of thousands into sheds without fresh air or room to move normally (each bird gets an area smaller then a standard sheet of paper). When they are sent to slaughter, workers routinely break the birds’ bones as they catch them and cram them into crates for transport to slaughter.

Most chickens are not stunned before their throats are slit, in the United States. Their heads are passed through an electrically charged water bath that immobilizes them but doesn’t render them unconscious. Then they have their throats cut and are dumped into a scalding tank of boiling water (to remove feathers), often while they are still conscious.

PETA wants Burger King to take these steps: 1 - Require Burger King slaughterhouses to stun ALL chickens, pigs and cows effectively. 2 - Require Burger King suppliers to kill humanely any animals who arrive at the slaughterhouse unable to walk, with broken limbs, or in severe pain. 3 - Make sure that every Burger King slaughterhouse is audited for abuse and stop buying from slaughterhouses that fail audits. 4 - Buy chicken flesh and eggs only from suppliers that don’t cut the chickens’ beaks off with a hot blade. 5 - Stop buying eggs from suppliers that give hens less than 72 square inches of space per bird, and phase out purchasing from suppliers that raise hens in battery cages. 6 - Stop buying eggs from suppliers that withhold food and water in order to increase egg production (a practice known as “forced molting”). 7 - Buy only chickens who are raised truly free-roaming—with nesting and sunning areas, plenty of food and fresh water, and enough space to prevent fighting. 8 - Institute humane guidelines for catching chickens so that the birds’ delicate bones will not be broken by rough handling. 9 - Require suppliers to stop breeding chickens for weight, a practice that causes painful leg deformities and chronic leg pain. 10 - Phase out the purchasing of pork from farms that confine sows to stalls. Please do all you can to help us force Burger King to make these changes.

•Ask Burger King to commit now to PETA’s list of specific steps to improve animals’ lives. Please also ask Burger King to offer a veggie burger at all its restaurants worldwide, as it does now in England. Mr. Colin Storm, CEO Burger King Corporation 17777 Old Cutler Rd., Miami, FL 33157 • In the U.K., write to officials at Burger King’s parent company. Let them know that what Burger King does to animals is illegal in the U.K. Mr. John McGrath, CEO, Diageo PLC 8 Henrietta Place, London W1M 9AG • Protest Burger King’s cruelty—at your local restaurant. Contact PETA for an action pack. • Visit our Web site at MurderKing.com for the latest campaign information. • Go vegetarian, if you haven’t already. Call 1-888-VEG-FOOD for a vegetarian starter kit chock-full of ideas, recipes and helpful hints. Visit PETAMall.com for delicious vegan foods available through mail order. First the Clown, Then the King In response to 11 months of PETA’s intensive worldwide campaign, including more than 400 demonstrations, McDonald’s has become the first fast-food giant to promise major improvements in the lives of chickens, cows, and pigs raised for its restaurants. Visit McCruelty.com for details. Help us convince Burger King to follow McDonald’s example.