PETA Calls On Buffalo Wild Wings to Require Less Cruel Chicken Slaughter Method

Group Seeks to Move Restaurant Chain Toward 'Controlled-Atmosphere Killing'

For Immediate Release:
May 5, 2010

Contact:
Lindsay Rajt 757-622-7382

Minneapolis -- A representative of PETA--which is a Buffalo Wild Wings shareholder--will present a resolution to executives at the company's annual meeting in Minneapolis tomorrow. PETA wants the company to require its suppliers to switch to a less cruel method of poultry slaughter called "controlled-atmosphere killing" (CAK) within five years:

When:   Thursday, May 6 at 9 a.m. 
Where:  Spring Hill Suites, Minneapolis

Currently, birds who are killed for Buffalo Wild Wings are dumped onto conveyor belts and slammed upside down by their legs into metal shackles--a procedure that often results in broken wings and broken legs. Birds' heads are run through an electrified bath that immobilizes them but does not render them insensible to pain. They are still conscious when their throats are cut, and many are then scalded to death in defeathering tanks.
 
In CAK, the oxygen that chickens breathe is slowly replaced with a nonpoisonous gas mixture that puts the birds "to sleep." As a result, they do not experience the pain of dumping, shackling, or scalding. CAK is the least cruel form of poultry slaughter, and it also improves working conditions by eliminating the birds' struggles.

"Buffalo Wild Wings could make a huge difference for the chickens who end up in its meals," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "More and more consumers care about animal welfare and take it into consideration when making restaurant choices, so the best thing that any business can do is take action to reduce animal abuse."

Many restaurant and grocery chains--including KFCs in Canada, Ruby Tuesday, Quiznos, Kroger, A&P, Harris Teeter, Subway, and Winn-Dixie--already buy birds who are killed by CAK.

PETA's shareholder resolution is also available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA.org/cak.