PETA to Grill KFC Execs at Annual Meeting Over Cruel Method of Chicken Slaughter

Chain Sits on Its Hands While Others in the Industry Move to Improve Animal Welfare

For Immediate Release:
May 18, 2011

Contact:
Ashley Gonzalez 202-483-7382

Louisville, Ky. — Because KFC continues to ignore the recommendations of its own animal welfare advisors regarding the slaughter of chickens the company purchases, a representative of PETA—which owns stock in KFC's parent company, Yum! Brands—will question executives at the company's annual meeting in Louisville on Thursday. The recommendations include switching to a more modern, less cruel slaughter method that would eliminate the abuses that chickens who are killed for KFC endure at the slaughterhouse. This year, at least two U.S. chicken processors will begin using the less cruel method.

When:              Thursday, May 19, 9 a.m.

Where:             Yum! Conference Center, 1900 Colonel Sanders Ln., Louisville

"KFC could stop its suppliers from breaking chickens' bones, cutting their throats while they're still conscious, and scalding millions of birds to death, but it won't," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "When it comes to implementing consumer-driven animal welfare reforms, KFC is at the bottom of the bucket."

The roughly 1 billion chickens killed each year for KFC are slammed into shackles and suspended upside down by their feet from conveyor belts—a procedure that often results in broken bones. Birds are still conscious when their throats are cut, and many are then scalded to death in defeathering tanks filled with scalding-hot water.

The less cruel slaughter method would prevent abuses against birds because workers would never handle live birds. In a PETA undercover investigation of a KFC "Supplier of the Year" slaughterhouse, workers were documented tearing the heads off live birds, spitting tobacco in birds' eyes, spraypainting birds' faces, and slamming birds against walls.

PETA's statement to Yum! Brands is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA's website KentuckyFriedCruelty.com.