News: McDonald's considers PETA-friendly changes

[Josh]

McDonald's, the #1 fast-food restaurant and second-largest buyer of chicken, is deciding if it should switch its chicken suppliers over to a new slaughter method that animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has been pusing for for some time now.

Animal welfare experts call controlled-atmosphere killing, or CAK, "the most stress-free, humane method of killing poultry ever developed". It is also USDA-approved and puts the birds to sleep quickly and painlessly.

According to PETA, McDonald's said some of its EU suppliers are already using CAK technology and a U.S. study on whether or not it will be feasible in America will be finished in the summer. A PETA spokesperson said McDonald's is the first corporation to seriously consider CAK technology and they are hopeful that McDonald's will spur an industry-wide shift.

According to PETA, chickens are currently exempt from animal cruelty laws and are routinely killed by shackling the birds upside down by their feet, slitting their throats and immersing them in boiling water, all while still alive.

News of McDonald's CAK study was announced after PETA filed a shareholder proposal to require the company to study CAK and post the results on the company Web site. McDonalds said they were already studying CAK and agreed to the Web site request if PETA withdrew the proposal.

PETA agreed and results should be posted by June 2005.

In the end of 2000, PETA suspended its "McCruelty to Go" campaign against McDonald's. The non-profit organization says that the 2000 campaign triggered McDonald's improvements.

For more information, visit peta.org

[Josh]

Update: The burger company is now trialling the use of gas chambers that it claims may be a more humane way to kill the 10m chickens needed each year for its McNuggets and other ranges in Britain.

The corporation has been harshly criticised by animal welfare groups for its present method of slaughtering chickens by having their throats cut after being stunned in baths of electrified water.

The new technique, where the chickens are knocked out by gas, is supposed to ensure they are dead before their throats are cut.

The move is part of an attempt by McDonald's to improve its public image that has included adding healthy meals to its menu (like salads) and the deletion of the "Super Size" option.

Under the existing killing methods, chickens are ferried to a slaughterhouse, unloaded by hand and then shackled upside down to a moving conveyor belt. This repeated handling by humans often results in trauma, broken bones, and other injuries.

Next, the belt is supposed to drag the chickens’ heads through a bath of electrified water but many birds struggle to lift their heads clear — and so remain alive when their throats are sliced by the next machine. Animal welfare groups like PETA say that many birds are bleeding but still conscious when they are plunged into boiling hot water to help their feathers peel off.

The chief executive of the British Poultry Council, which represents the farming and processing industries, said it accepted there were welfare problems with established slaughter methods that gassing could solve.

[KChicken]

I'm so glad McDonald's is considering more humane ways of slaughtering. I could barely stand to read some of the stories brewing from those slaughter houses. I now just hope that other fast food chains catch on. Including KFC.

[Josh]

I agree with you. I think large corporations like McDonald's are recognizing that they can no longer get away with simply hiding what goes on inside their factory farms. Consumers are making more and more choices concerning their purchases and how their spending affects the world. Hopefully, you and I will be around when companies (yes, including KFC) move away from abusing the chickens they raise.

While I hesitate to link to this site simply because it's affiliated with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (a group who has the uncanny ability to irk), you can learn more about the KFC controversy at kentuckyfriedcruelty.com

[KChicken]

That website is horrible. I could barely look at it. I read a children's chicken comic on there that had referances to baby chicks being ground into fertilizer. The PETA really needs to rethink their stratedgy. You even have to become a member to buy any of their bumpers stickers, ect. Although, it must work.

KChicken

[Miss Kfc]

disgusting