Tag: Chickens

Australian Model Sarah Jane Does PETA Anti-KFC Ad

Australian model Sarah Jane is appearing in an ad on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals urging consumers to boycott KFC.

The ad is targeted at Hong Kong, where PETA plans to distribute 20,000 flyers featuring the ad.

Jane told newspapers,

I hope that, no matter how you feel about eating meat, you will agree with me that animals raised for food should not be grossly mistreated. Chickens raised for meat are commonly crammed by the tens of thousands into filthy warehouses with no access to fresh air or sunlight. . . .I will feel satisfied if this campaign can shock, confront and awaken people globally and make known the suffering of chickens at the hands of KFC. I urge everyone not to set foot in another KFC restaurants until the company ends its chickens.

Interesting how PETA is so effective at attracting people whose main talent seems to be their ability to disrobe.

Source:

Animal welfare group enlists star for anti-KFC campaign. Agence-France Presse, August 3, 2005.

Sarah Jane out of her shell. Herald Sun, August 4, 2005.

Aussie chick to nearly reveal all in KFC protest. Dennis Chong, The Standard (China), August 4, 2005.

Most downloaded woman urges KFC to clean up its low-down, dirty ways. Press release, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Undated.

PETA’s Anti-KFC Protest Draws More Customers

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ Benjamin Goldsmith organized a protest against a KFC in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. But along with 10 protesters, the activists attracted additional customers to the restaurant.

According to the Associated Press,

Jacqueline Newbold, a supervisor at KFC, said at an uncommon rush of customers required the store to call extra employees at work.

“We had a line going out the door and through the lobby,” Newbold said.

. . .

During the first four hours of business, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., on Monday, the store had 211 customers compared with 130 the Monday before, supervisor John Simmons said Tuesday.

KFC customer Rusty Smith summed up one view of the protest, telling the Associated Press,

I think there’s a place in this world for all God’s creations . . . right next to the mashed potatoes.

Protester Marcos Carillo chalked such attitudes down to ignorance,

People don’t understand.

No, as I’ve said before, people understand exactly what animal rights activists are demanding, which is why their views are so overwhelmingly rejected by the larger culture.

Source:

Protest draws extra customers. Associated Press, August 3, 2005.

U.S. FDA Bans Antibiotic Baytril In Poultry

In July, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a report announcing that the antibiotic Baytril would be banned from use in poultry effective September 12, 2005. The drug will remain on the market and approved for use in treating infections in dogs, cats and cows.

The FDA took the extraordinary move out of concern that use of Baytril in poultry could lead to antibiotic-resistant form of the campylobacter bacteria. Campylobacter is common in the intestines of turkey and chickens, but it doesn’t usually cause the animals disease. When Baytril is administered to poultry, it tends to lead to the emergence of antibiotic resistant forms of the bacteria.

The FDA fears that, while not causing illness to poultry, these antibiotic resistant forms of campylobacter could find their way to human beings, impairing the ability of existing antibiotics to treat these human infections.

The Associated Press reported that,

Resistant bacteria my be present in poultry sold at retail outlets. [FDA commissioner Lester] Crawford noted that since the drug was introduced for poultry in the 1990s, the proportion of resistant campylobacter infections in humans has risen significantly.

That can prolong the length of infections in people and increase the risk of complications, Crawford said. Complications can include reactive arthritis and blood stream infections.

Bayer, the manufacturer of Baytril, has 60 days to appeal the FDA’s decision.

The full FDA report on Baytril can be read here (2 mb PDF file).

Source:

FDA bans use of Baytril in poultry. Randolph Schmid, Associated Press, July 29, 2995.

Prosecutor in KFC Supplier Case Receives Threats from Animal Rights Extremists

WAVE 3 TV reported recently that a special prosecutor assigned to look at allegations of animal cruelty at Pilgrim’s Pride — which supplies chickens to KFC — has received so many threats that an FBI agent has been assigned the task of investigating each of them.

In 2004, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals made public a videotape showing employees of Pilgrim’s Pride in West Virginia kicking, stomping and slamming chickens against walls. In January 2005, however, special prosecutor Ginny Conley announced she wasn’t bringing charges because the videotape was so dark and grainy it was impossible to identify specific individuals for prosecution. She also cited concern that since the alleged abuse took place at a slaughterhouse, that it wasn’t covered by the state’s animal cruelty statutes.

Conley subsequently received enough additional information against those in the video to take her case to a grand jury in June. The grand jury, however, refused to indict the identified individuals.

Pilgrim’s Pride fired 11 people connected to the incidents on the videotape.

Conley told the Associated Press and WAVE 3 TV that she regularly receives harassing e-mails and letters from animal rights extremists, some of which include threats. She told WAVE 3,

There was even an FBI person provided to me to monitor it because the harassment got to such a level.

PETA, for its part, stuck with its “we don’t condone it, but we really do” line. PETA’s Dan Shannon told WAVE TV that PETA doesn’t condone the threats, but added that,

At the same time, you can understand how somebody would be so upset by these animals being tortured and abused, thrown against walls and torn apart. They might be moved with that level of passion.

Reminds me of the time that Shannon said PETA didn’t condone throwing fake blood at KFC’s CEO, while Bruce Friedrich was off doing just that.

The kicker is that Conley told the Associated Press that the harassment from animal rights activists made it harder to focus on making a case against the Pilgrim’s Pride workers,

Special prosecutor Ginny Conley had previously said she had no evidence to warrant criminal charges, but said Wednesday that more evidence had been found that persuaded her to present the case to a grand jury. Pressure from the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals did little to sway her, she said.

“In fact, if anything, the harassment I received from PETA was very intrusive on me performing my duties as prosecutor,” said Conley. “However, after I gained the additional information I received, I felt it at least warranted presentation to the citizens of Hardy County.”

Sources:

PETA supporters upset workers on video abusing chickens won’t be charged. Erick Flack, WAVE TV 3, July 19, 2005.

Jury Won’t Indict Chicken Plant Workers. Associated Press, June 8, 2005.

Farm Lobby Blocks Proposed California Ban on Killing Chickens Via Wood Chipper

In April, California’s farm lobby successfully blocked a bill that would have banned the killing of chickens in wood chippers.

The law, proposed by Assemblywoman Lori Saldana, was introduced after a 2003 incident in which workers at Ward Poultry Farm in San Diego County threw up to dumped up to 30,000 live chickens into wood chippers.

Ward Poultry Farm co-owner Bill Wilgenburg said the drastic measure was taken only after Newcastle disease broke out among chickens in southern California and the state quarantined the chickens in the area. Wilgenburg said he brought in the wood chippers after a veterinarian advised him to do so.

The San Diego County District Attorney examined the case but declined to prosecute, saying that the farm had not violated California’s animal cruelty laws because it did not act with malicious intent and followed the advice of a veterinarian.

The American Veterinary Medical Association, by the way, is adamantly opposed to the practice, saying in a press release,

“Use of wood chippers has not been endorsed by the AVMA as an acceptable means of euthanasia for poultry.” This statement is a response to an article in the San Diego Union-Tribune that reported employees at two area poultry farms used wood chippers to dispose of some 30,000 live hens in February. The article erroneously stated that the AVMA approves of the method.

“It is absolutely absurd and ludicrous to believe that any veterinary medical association, especially an association that has for more than 140 years been the leading voice for humane and proper care of animals, could or would advocate throwing live chickens into a wood chipper as an appropriate method of euthanasia,” said Dr. Bruce W. Little, AVMA executive vice president.

The full text of Assembly Bill 1587 which would make throwing live animals into a wood chipper illegal can be read here.

Source:

State farm lobby blocks bill to stop killing chickens via wood chippers. Michael Gardner, Copley News Service, April 21, 2005.

Wood chippers not to be used to euthanize poultry, AVMA says. Press Release, The American Veterinary Medical Association, June 3, 2003.

Why PETA Stopped Its “Holocaust On Your Plate” Campaign

In April, Brownsville, Texas, KFC manager John Olivo greeted three protester from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals by turning on his sprinklers as the three approached his restaurant.

Olivo told the Brownsville Herald,

They [the protesters] already hit me in McAllen. I was already waiting for them here in Brownsville.

The PETA protesters also faced one especially active counter-protester, David Ingersoll, who had his children passing out anti-PETA pamphlets, and high school students yelling insults from the windows of their bus.

PETA’s Chris Link told The Brownsville Herald,

It hasn’t been quite like this in other parts of the state. It’s a rarity that we get this.

The odd thing is that, of course, PETA has compared the slaughter of chickens to the Holocaust, but what is its current proposal for improving chicken welfare — gassing chickens to death in large chambers.

According to the Brownsville Herald,

“We’re out of here today to raise awareness about the chickens,” said link, a Baltimore native. “All we want them (slaughter houses) to do is gas the chickens instead of killing them.” [Apparently Link is a bit confused about a lot of things].

PETA suggests a “controlled-atmosphere” killing, using gases such as nitrogen and argon to kill the chickens.

The gas chambers would ensure a painless death for the birds, PETA reported in its web site. Slaughter houses currently use an electrical stun method or cut off the birds’ heads.

So that’s why the group backed off its Holocaust claims. It’d be a bit difficult to wander the country claiming meat eating is just like the Holocaust while simultaneously arguing in favor of gas chambers for chickens.

Finally, Link told one of the most bald-faced lies I’ve seen even for a PETA member. Link actually told the Brownsville Herald that,

Almost all (PETA’s) money goes directly to fund animals. Every dime goes directly to helping animals whether it’s through demonstrations (or) to raise awareness.

Uh, Chris, have you read PETA’s tax returns lately?

Source:

PETA gets rude welcome in Brownsville. Gilberto Salinas, The Brownsville Herald, April 14, 2005.