Why Did the Crippled Chicken Cross the Road? To Protest KFC!

As part of World Farm Animals Day, hundreds of demos occurred throughout the world. Locally, Voices for Animals protested against KFC in Oakland.

Voices for Animals led a local protest against KFC on Saturday, October 2, as part of an international day of action against the large-scale chicken abuser. The activists held signs reading “KFC Tortures Chickens” and “Boycott KFC” and were joined by a gigantic “crippled chicken.”

The “crippled chicken” represented the plight of so many of the 750 million birds KFC uses each years: genetically engineered to be so top-heavy that they collapse under their own weight. Mother chickens routinely have their beaks seared off, and all are drugged with massive doses of antibiotics to keep them alive in conditions that would otherwise kill them.

A life of suffering on the farm is met with a cruel, wretched death. Chickens from KFC suppliers often have their throats slit open while still conscious and others are scalded alive in the feather removal process.

“Chickens aren't just drumsticks,” said Michael Croland of Voices for Animals. “They are individuals who have feelings, just like the cardinal in the backyard or the parakeet in the family room. Birds deserve better than to be battered by KFC.”

In July, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) released an undercover investigation of a West Virginia slaughterhouse that KFC had called their “supplier of the year.” The video showed workers stomping on the birds, throwing them against the wall, and spitting tobacco in their eyes. Such disregard for animals’ well-being can be said to be inevitable for an industry that deprives them of any semblance of a natural life.

PETA is calling for KFC to implement the barest of the bare minimum of animal welfare standards, as originally suggested by KFC's own scientific panel. The demands include having KFC suppliers put an end to the following: debeaking birds, slaughtering them while they are still conscious, and genetically altering them so that they collapse under their own weight. McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, and Safeway have all implemented similar animal welfare improvements in the past few years.

For more information on the campaign against KFC, please visit PETA’s Web site: http://www.KentuckyFriedCruelty.com.

- Michael Crowland, Pittsburgh Indymedia

Voices for Animals, outside of Taco Bell
(photo by Michael Croland)