Written by PETA
Dozens of celebrities, including Oscar-winner Anjelica Huston, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Iggy Pop, and comedic improv genius Fred Willard—all of whom were in attendance at PETA's 30th Anniversary Gala—signed our petition calling on McDonald's to reduce cruelty to chickens. Check it out.
All these celebrities join countless caring folks who've taken action against the atrocious treatment of birds on the factory farms that supply McCruelty. Chickens deserve a break—not broken wings or death by scalding. So they need you to be a shining star for them too.
Written by Karin Bennett
It's so hot in the city, you'd think I'd be making another batch of lemonade—but I've got a hankering for some Internet Soup. It's been a while since the last batch, so dig in!
Oof! I don't know about you, but I'm full after all that soup—and guac. This Special K needs a siesta. Until next time …
Note to bigwigs at animal-abusing companies: Don't offer to answer questions unless you're prepared to sit in the hot seat! When PETA learned that McDonald's vice president Bob Langert is taking questions from stakeholders—people who are affected by McDonald's actions—on McDonald's "corporate responsibility" blog, PETA Senior V.P. Dan Mathews sent in this query, which is sure to make Langert squirm:
Chickens who are killed by McDonald's suppliers have their throats cut while they are still conscious, and many suffer broken limbs or are scalded to death in defeathering tanks. As the leading U.S. purchaser of chicken meat, your company has the ability and the market power to end these abuses. When will McDonald's become a leader in animal welfare by requiring your U.S. suppliers to switch to a less cruel slaughter method that's approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is already used by McDonald's suppliers in Europe?
After all, who is more affected by McDonald's actions than the nearly 300 million chickens who are slaughtered for the chain each year? It's unlikely that Langert will respond, even though PETA is not only a stakeholder but also a company shareholder.
You can give McCruelty an earful about its abusive methods by leaving a stakeholder comment of your own or by urging the company to adopt that less cruel slaughter method, which is called "controlled-atmosphere killing."
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post
Hot on the heels of news that some doctors are recommending that elementary school–age kids be put on statin drugs (seriously—I wish I were making it up) comes a better prescription for dealing with the side effects of the childhood obesity epidemic. Several of the U.K.'s leading doctors are recommending a junk-food jihad.
"If we were really bold, we might even begin to think of high-calorie fast food in the same way as cigarettes—by setting stringent limits on advertising, product placement, and sponsorship of sports events," said Professor Terence Stephenson, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
Meanwhile, PETA is taking the Detroit Public Library system and Detroit's first lady to task for bribing encouraging kids to read books by promising them a free McDonald's Happy Meal. Hopefully, kids will turn up their noses at this shameless gimmick after they read That's Why We Don't Eat Animals, a copy of which PETA has sent to the library.
Written by Alisa Mullins
After finding out that a McDonald's restaurant in his hometown of Liverpool had plastered the walls with photos of him and the rest of the Fab Four, Sir Paul McCartney—who is known by all (except maybe the marooned fighter pilot on Gilligan's Island) as being a longtime and outspoken vegetarian—was less than glad all over.
Refusing to let it be, McCartney urged his fans to boycott the fast-food behemoth. Surprisingly, the notoriously tone-deaf purveyor of patties seems to have gotten the message, and the photos have reportedly gotten back to where they once belonged.
Maybe next McDonald's will agree to make improvements in the way chickens are killed for its restaurants. I'm sure Sir Paul wouldn't object to Meat-Free Mondays at McDonald's, either—or better yet, meatless meals eight days a week.
Once again, the PETA Files goes to the movies. First up: Vegans are hitting the big time on big screens across America, courtesy of Rob Schneider's vegan character in last week's box-office hit, Grown Ups. Sure, the movie made fun of vegans, but it made fun of everything—besides, we at PETA have a good sense of humor.
This week, we're curious to see whether Aang, the hero of The Last Airbender, will share his vegetarian views as he did in the beloved Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender. He should, of course, considering that it's in keeping with his steadfast Buddhist and Taoist beliefs—but the film is tied in with a massive McDonald's promotion featuring Airbender commercials and action figures. Go figure. Are Airbender producers and McCruelty execs banking on the hope that audiences won't notice—or care—that a corporation that refuses to make even minimal improvements to reduce its cruel treatment of billions of animals is pushing figurines of a passionate animal defender?
We're going to go ahead and cry fowl on this partnership—and then ask: Will you speak up for chickens?
Live from the PETA Files, its SNL's "Clucky the Cluckin' Chicken" commercial!
Hmm, I'm kind of lovin' the idea of turning this into a spoof of McDonald's. What do you think? Would you like to see Clucky take on the killer clown?
Written by Amy Skylark Elizabeth
PETA's brand-new McCruelty PSA starring actor Jenna Jameson turned out fantastic, as we knew it would, but we had to shoot it several times. Jenna had to stop the action to regain her composure whenever she started talking about how chickens' legs are often broken when workers slam them upside down into metal shackles, and how these gentle birds are frequently scalded alive in defeathering tanks.
It's depressing enough to think (and blog) about cruelty that McDonald's could stop but simply chooses not to—let alone to talk about it on camera. Perhaps McDonald's should change its slogan "You deserve a break today" to "We'll give you a breakdown today."
Jenna is passionate about this issue, and she's optimistic that better times for chickens are ahead. "They're going to listen. Just wait," she told PETA. Yes, they will, if we all get behind the campaign and push—so come on, everyone. And thank you, Jenna!
Please join Jenna in demanding that McDonald's start buying chickens from suppliers that only use controlled-atmosphere killing, a less cruel form of slaughter.
Written by Heather Moore
No one—and I mean no one—rocks like Chrissie Hynde. Whether she's fronting the Pretenders or backing a PETA campaign, the vegan Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is never in the "Middle of the Road." In fact, she's always willing to go the extra mile (or "2000 Miles") to help animals.
Case in point? After helping us re-launch our McCruelty campaign last year—urging McDonald's to require its U.S. suppliers to upgrade to less cruel slaughter standards—Chrissie took time off from promoting her upcoming album in New York this week to kick off our new "i'm hatin' it" national ad blitz with an appearance in Philadelphia. And to make sure that people got the message, she not only unveiled her attention-grabbing billboard, she also passed out some of our thought-provoking Unhappy Meals to the fine folks of Philly!
Check out these pictures:
Written by Jeff Mackey
Speaking of interruptions, check out this footage from last night, when a PETA member took the podium during a speech by McDonald's bigwig Mary Dillon at a Marquette University alumni event to give attendees an earful about the company's cruelty to chickens:
The audience was packed with CEOs and top executives from lots of big corporations. PETA's newest campaign strategy includes attending McDonald's executives' speaking engagements and holding them accountable in front of their colleagues and competitors for remaining in the Dark Ages when it comes to animal welfare. Even though a less cruel method of chicken slaughter is already in use in Europe and has been approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, McDonald's still allows its suppliers to break chickens' wings and legs, cut their throats while they are conscious, and scald them to death in defeathering tanks using the outdated method.
All McDonald's needs to do to stop animal defenders from being a pain in its neck is to get its suppliers to quit cutting chickens' throats open and insist that they adopt controlled-atmosphere killing.
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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