Written by Michelle Kretzer
Every year, people who exploit chickens and reduce them to bits in a bucket gather at the International Poultry Expo to congratulate each other on making money at it. So this year, PETA sent a flock of "birds" to suggest that attendees give a cluck about chickens:
Banging on pots and pans and shouting, "We are not nuggets!" the chickens got everyone's attention. A surprisingly large number of attendees accepted the demonstrators' leaflets and listened to explanations of how chickens suffer on factory farms and in slaughterhouses, including being mutilated and drugged, having their throats slit while still alive, and often being scalded to death.
It was an educational expo indeed.
Honey Boo Boo has found something else that makes her holla: her new companion chicken. Alana Thompson's mother says that HBB and her BFF (best fowl friend) are practically inseparable.
Why, then, would the pint-sized reality star name her chicken Nugget? PETA wrote to Honey Boo Boo asking her to change Nugget's name to "Not a Nugget," after our youth outreach mascot, to honor her companion as a friend, not food.
"As I'm sure you are learning from your chicken, chickens are smart, interesting animals with personalities of their own," our letter reads. "Changing Nugget's name to 'Not a Nugget' will let your fans know that they should be nice to chickens by not eating them."
But even if Honey Boo Boo "redneckognizes" that chickens are better as family members than value meals, that doesn't mean that she would have to give up her "chicken-nugget power." PETA is also sending the pageant queen our "I Am Not a Nugget" T-shirt and Gardein's faux-chicken tenders. Since meat-free nuggets have all the protein with none of the cholesterol, they'll give her more energy than Go Go Juice. And not eating chickens might earn her a whole new flock of fans.
If a dolla will make Honey Boo Boo holla, maybe a Gardein nugget will make her wanna hug it? (Note to June: Gardein also puts out good coupons.)
Written by Jeff Mackey
When a woman contacted PETA with information about trucks jammed full of birds routinely driving through her area, she added that two chickens had fallen off a truck that morning. She had taken them home with her, where she gave them food, water, and bedding.
One of the injured birds had died, and the other was unable to stand. PETA's Cruelty Investigations Division urged the woman to take the surviving bird to a nearby veterinarian right away. The doctor found that the chicken was suffering from two broken legs and was so profoundly overweight (like many chickens raised for meat) that even if he were able to heal her legs, she would never be able to bear weight on them or have a decent quality of life. He recommended that the anguished hen be euthanized right away—a far gentler end than she would have faced in the pandemonium at the slaughterhouse.
What You Can Do
If you see any animal in trouble, please don't turn away—provide help, even if the kindest option is a humane release from suffering. You can also save lives by going vegan: Every penny spent on meat, milk, or eggs funds the institutionalized torture of countless animals like these two chickens.
Gizmodo
What you're looking at is not a newly discovered pink Burmese python or the material used to make lawn flamingos. It's actually something edible (and I use the term "edible" loosely).
This is actually mechanically separated meat, the main ingredient in many commercial chicken nuggets (and the companies use the term "chicken" loosely). The picture has been circulating around the Internet for a while, but it's still creating buzz because it shows something we rarely see.
It's made by sending animals' bones through a machine that scrapes off the last bits of flesh and blood and smashes them together to form a paste more nausea-inducing than the kind you ate in kindergarten. The paste has to be soaked in ammonia to kill the bacteria, the "chicken" flavor has to be added to it, and the whole mess has to be dyed so that it no longer resembles, well, a big bloody log of unidentifiable animal bits.
Written by PETA
Why I don't eat chicken—let me count the reasons: There's cruelty and callousness, blood and pus, pain and suffering, and sickness and death, not to mention feces, vomit, parasites, pollution, plaque build-up, and other disturbing and disgusting things that I just can't stomach. PETA has created a compelling 30-second clip called "Why I Don't Eat Chicken" that features some of the most unappetizing footage from our chicken factory farm investigations. Check it out, and share it with everyone you know. If they can't stomach the video, then they shouldn't stomach chicken flesh.
Written by Heather Moore
Singapore artist Nafe Nanfeng created these moving images and forwarded them to PETA after reading that two slaughterhouses in the U.S. are implementing a slaughter method called "controlled-atmosphere killing" (CAK), which will greatly reduce the suffering of countless birds who are killed to become drumsticks.
The sky's the limit when it comes to ways to get the word out. You can use art, fashion, correspondence, leaflets, or just about anything else you can think of—that list could stretch from Dallas to Denver. No matter what methods you use, please always—and often—create opportunities to inspire people to choose compassion over killing.
Written by Karin Bennett
It seems like only yesterday I was writing about the nationwide salmonella outbreak and massive egg recall. But now it's time to move on to the latest food safety scare: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) just shut down a Tyson Foods meat-processing plant in Buffalo, N.Y., after food safety inspectors found that Tyson hadn't cleaned up its act since August 23, when it recalled 380,000 pounds of deli meat that was potentially contaminated with harmful Listeria bacteria.
Tyson doesn't exactly have a reputation for being hygienic—or humane. PETA investigators have even caught Tyson employees breaking birds' necks and urinating on the slaughter line. Watch the video from PETA's undercover investigation and see for yourself.
Perhaps this latest scandal will convince the USDA to take stronger enforcement action against Tyson. Not only is the company torturing birds, it's also putting the public at risk for food poisoning.
The cruel treatment of chickens raised for food is reason enough for people to stop eating them, but Dr. Mehmet Oz just provided his viewers with yet another reason: On a recent episode of The Dr. Oz Show, he explained exactly what's in chicken flesh—chemicals, antibiotics, arsenic, drugs, and salt—and how it can lead to antibiotic resistance and other health problems.
Gardein vegan chicken anyone?
According to The Smoking Gun Lady Gaga's caught in a new romance, and this one ain't so bad. The website got its hands on Gaga's latest concert rider, and the newest addition to it is a request for Yves vegan hot dogs. Maybe she’s trying to do right by Miss Piggy after wearing her boyfriend as a coat.
Written by Shawna Flavell
Restaurants are already reluctant to post calorie counts; can you imagine how hard it is to get fast-food joints to post a skull and crossbones—or at least a warning sign—letting customers know that their grilled chicken contains a carcinogen? It's pretty dang hard—but the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) just got one step closer to making it a reality. A California appeals court just ruled that PCRM can proceed with its lawsuit against fast-food companies that sell grilled chicken without telling consumers that it contains a chemical that's linked to several types of cancer, including breast cancer and prostate cancer.
Under California law, businesses must post warning signs when they expose people to chemicals that are known to cause cancer. But get this: Some fast-food companies are countering that the signs should be thwarted because they "contradict" federal guidelines ensuring that food be cooked enough to kill food-borne bacteria.
Comforting, isn't it? It seems that any way you cook it, chicken is a health hazard.
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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