Contact:
Lindsay Rajt 757-622-7382

Date: Wednesday, December 14
Time: 11 a.m.-12 noon
Place: KFC, 2849 Owen Dr.

What is done to chickens would be illegal if it were done to dogs, cats, cows, or pigs. However, chickens are excluded from the only federal law that protects farmed animals, the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act. An undercover investigation at a Moorefield, W.Va., slaughterhouse that supplies chickens to KFC revealed that workers were kicking, throwing, and stomping on live birds. Recently, PETA released the findings of an undercover investigation of a slaughterhouse operated by KFC’s number one supplier, Tyson Foods, and found that workers were ripping conscious chickens’ heads off, slaughter machinery was systematically mutilating chickens, and thousands of birds were being scalded to death after they entered the defeathering tank while they were still conscious.

PETA attempted to work with executives from KFC’s parent company, Yum! Brands, prior to launching its "Kentucky Fried Cruelty" Campaign, but despite assurances made long ago by Senior Vice President Jonathan Blum that KFC would "raise the bar" on animal welfare, the company refuses to eliminate the worst abuses. Seinfeld star and ex-KFC pitchman Jason Alexander had his contract with KFC canceled after PETA enlisted him to speak to company execs about chickens’ suffering. PETA has had additional high-profile support from Nobel Peace Prize winner His Holiness the Dalai Lama, rock icons Sir Paul McCartney and Chrissie Hynde, actors Pamela Anderson and Bea Arthur, and civil rights leaders The Rev. Al Sharpton, Alice Walker, Kweisi Mfume, Dick Gregory, and Dr. Cornel West.

"KFC has the ability to stop this cruelty today, simply by implementing the changes recommended by its own advisors," says PETA Director of Vegan Campaigns Bruce Friedrich. "While KFC drags its feet, chickens continue to suffer unnecessarily."

For more information, please visit PETA’s Web site KentuckyFriedCruelty.com.