Milk and Jail

Helllllllo PETA. What now, you ask?

Vegan means NO milk, no? And since when has PETA carried about your waistline. Tsk tsk.

The lobbying group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals filed an official complaint with the Florida Department of Education (news - web sites) on Monday demanding that it stop the sale of "unhealthy" chocolate, strawberry and other flavored milks in high school vending machines.

"Flavored milk drinks contain more fat, sugar, cholesterol, and calories than even soft drinks do," the complaint says. "Dairy representatives should be in jail for foisting this high-fat, high-sugar toilet water on the nation's children," said Bruce Friedrich, director of vegan outreach for Washington, D.C.-based PETA.

Bruce wears it as cologne, all while yapping about "the children."

Yahoo's snippet extends into the full story, where the Herald milks it for all it's got.

In Miami-Dade, the complaint got instant action. Penny Parham, in charge of school lunches, drove to a high school, checked a milk vending machine and discovered it was selling the exact, 460-calorie Nesquick chocolate milk product referred to in the PETA complaint. ''It's coming out immediately,'' she said. ``This isn't the right way to fight obesity.''

Okay, 460 calories is a bit much. What's that equivalent to, you ask? Oh, about a 32 oz soda, weighing in at about 416 calories. What's the soda give you? Nada. The milk? A bunch of calcium and Vitamin D. Not exactly a wash.

But that nasty word, OBESITY. There it is. Everyone cringe.

Here's what it's really about. Remember that other word: vegan.

PETA attorney Matthew Penzer said Monday's Florida complaint is the opening salvo in efforts to counter dairy industry vending machine programs in several states.

This isn't about weight. Who believes that it is? Who gives PETA credibility in this regard. It's shameful.

PETA's complaint also says serving milk violates Florida laws that require schools to ``efficiently and faithfully teach kindness to animals.''

Look out, Pizza Hut. You serve pizza. With cheese. Vegans unite, for there is no food chain, and I didn't just watch my cats yesterday attempt to eviscerate a moth for their own amusement before devouring said insect. No. Food chain? Doesn't exist.

hln

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Buck buck buck BWACK!

We've all read the news. Pamela Anderson...KFC. Yawn.

But Hans sent me this, so let's all go stare at Pamela's fake boobage for a bit and discuss amongst ourselves.

Pamela Anderson has joined the ranks of celebrities who are urging the public to boycott KFC because of the supposedly uncivilized manner in which the handle breasts...um...chicken. Anderson says, "If people knew how KFC treats chickens, they'd never eat another drumstick." Maybe she meant breasts but that's besides the point because this article is supposed to be about breasts...I mean chicken, not breasts. Hard to concentrate here.

Funny, and a good take on the issue. I should've guessed that the material for fake boobs came from the same body's grey matter. All I can think is, wow, how can she run? But she has "friends." Friends at PETA. And when the time is right, they'll send a pulse to Agent Anderson that all is again right in the world and she can go back to studying drumsticks and keeping her mouth shut.

Soon, please. (I notice PETA didn't dispatch her to David Novak's neighbors and church. Yet.)

hln

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Quickly Found PETA Post

So, I hit the Center for Consumer Freedom, as I often do, and, there it was, gleaming, screaming, teeming with shouts for my attention:

PETA's Latest Excuse For Funding Terrorists

Ooh, promising.

In 2002 the Center for Consumer Freedom first revealed that PETA had donated $1,500 of tax-exempt funds to the FBI-labeled terrorist Earth Liberation Front (ELF). Now, in a story about recent ELF arsons, the Associated Press has published the eighth in a series of different explanations PETA has offered for this misguided (and possibly illegal) cash grant.

Yesterday's AP story notes: "PETA said the money was used to send two people to Washington to testify at a congressional hearing on behalf of an ELF spokesman." Funny -- PETA officials never mentioned this in 2002, when they offered the following explanations:

The post goes on to list prior excuses.

For some reason, I'm thinking of Masterpiece Theatre, complete with Pachelbel's Canon - too slowly done to promote some director's idea of dramatic emphasis. "And tonight, on PETA Theatre, we present the EIGHTH and final excuse..." You can hear it, can't you?

Oh, the drama. Tune in next week for the encore, where we hear our beloved Bruce Friedrich crying amidst young chickens slated for YOUR dinner plates. "Oh, chickens, whatever will we do? Our non-profit status is sure to vanish!"

Cut, and that's a wrap.

Chicken. No mayo.

hln

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PETA Post

Amazing. I actually agree with PETA on this one (and its methods aren't even over the top here). Too many healthy animals are euthanized because there are too many companion animals available and not all are able to be cared for by humans. So, I disagree with the sale of animals by pet stores. I won't even go into puppy mills. I am and always have been one bleeding-heart animal lover.

But back on topic. PETA put out a press release on September 17, 2003 that targets PETCO and prompts it to halt the sale of live animals.

This is part of a series of protests taking place outside PETCO stores across the country, all designed to give consumers the full story about the "pet"-shop chain—lawsuits, suffering animals, and angry customers. The activists will also be encouraging PETCO employees to blow the whistle on cruelty. PETA is offering up to $1000 for information leading to a cruelty-to-animals conviction for the chain.

Date: Saturday, September 20
Time: 12 noon-2 p.m.
Place: 13750 E. Mississippi Ave.

According to Forbes magazine, PETCO "has been embroiled in at least four recent court-related matters … charging animal cruelty or neglect." The city of San Francisco has filed a lawsuit to bar PETCO from selling animals there because of "the cruelty and pattern of brazen violations … [that] continued over three years." After years of receiving a never-ending stream of customer complaints—including reports of sick and injured animals who were left to die in their cages or placed in freezers to die, enclosures caked with feces, a lack of veterinary care, severely stressed animals’ cannibalizing each other, and staff members untrained in basic animal care—PETA has launched a national campaign against PETCO aimed at getting the chain to stop selling live animals and carry only animal supplies.

Earlier this month, PETA, a PETCO shareholder, took its case directly to PETCO’s shareholders and board of directors. PETA filed a shareholder resolution calling on the chain store to stop selling birds, reptiles, fish, and other small and vulnerable animals—which, according to PETCO CEO Brian Devine, makes up less than 5 percent of the chain’s annual revenues—and urging PETCO to focus instead on selling companion-animal food, supplies, and services and expanding adoption programs.

And, because this is PETA, the issue will get some exposure.

hln

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Free the Chickens (PETA Post)

Via The Center for Consumer Freedom, I found this article.

Kweisi Mfume, president and chief executive of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, has signed a letter in support of an animal rights group's campaign against Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Norfolk, Va.-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a low-budget group that often seeks high-profile supporters to spread its message, posted the letter on its Web site this week to add weight to its three-year battle.

The one-page letter, dated Sept. 10 and written on NAACP letterhead stationery, is addressed to David Novak, chairman and chief executive officer of Yum! Brands Inc., which owns Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut brands. It asks the company to require its suppliers to employ more humane methods in breeding and slaughtering chickens.

Uh, okay.

Louisville, Ky.-based Yum! responded to the PETA campaign with a release that said: "KFC is committed to the well-being and humane treatment of chickens and we require all of our suppliers to follow welfare guidelines developed by us with leading experts on our Animal Welfare Advisory Council."

The fast-food chain, which has a large presence in black neighborhoods, also points out on its Web site that it was named one of Fortune magazine's "50 best companies for minorities."

Mfume's support for PETA, while limited to a five-paragraph letter, raised eyebrows among some NAACP observers.

Ronald Walters, director of the University of Maryland's African American Leadership Institute, said he was not sure how much more Mfume could do before being criticized by NAACP membership for diverting focus from people.

He said involvement might be warranted if the criticism targeted labor practices or marketing to blacks, who make up a disproportionate number of fast food customers and workers. The letter, however, could have some impact.

Lovely. Now chickens are an issue of race. I like Consumer Freedom's take on it.

Doesn't the NAACP have better things to do than educating Americans that, yes, chickens expire in the making of two-piece dinners?

Breast and a leg or a wing and a thigh, biscuit, cole slaw, and a little tub o' mashed potatoes.

hln

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PETA Party

I found this on Consumer Freedom.

Ha ha ha ha. What if you threw a party, and nobody showed up? Guess this is that. What'd PETA have to say?

U.S. Marine Cpl. Ravi Chand, who just returned from his tour of duty in Iraq, has rejoined his old "unit" at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), but he’s not through fighting the war on terror just yet. Cpl. Chand, who saw combat in Iraq and stuck to his pure vegetarian diet throughout the war, will lead a demonstration in front of the White House, highlighted by PETA members dressed as an oversized knife and fork and holding signs reading, "President Bush: Found Your WMD—Meat’s the Biggest Killer of All," to make the point that eating meat kills far more Americans each year than war or other weapons, in addition to terrorizing and killing billions of animals.

In my mind: "What?" says Cpl. Chand, "What's a vulture? What are lions, tigers, and bears, oh my? Animals wouldn't...kill each other, would they?" Hey, dude. You know what I have to say? Food chain. F-O-O-D C-H-A-I-N.

hln

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PETA suing you today? PETA harassing you tomorrow

PETA suing you today? PETA harassing you tomorrow

Wow, no one saw the PETA post coming today, eh? Hah.

Yum! Brands caved. Yes, that's right. KFC gave in to the harassment, which bodes well for PETA and its nutbars everywhere. There's no room for debate and disagreement - only discord and celebrity-backed over-the-top obnoxious campaigns that malign facts everywhere, regardless of any veracity in PETA's claims.

I've posted on this before, not the lawsuit specifically, but of PETA's KFC badgering. So what's new here?

PETA's suit, targeting KFC's Web site and consumer hotline, claimed KFC disseminated false information. According to PETA, KFC agreed to remove certain claims from its Web site and from the script that customer-service operators use when consumers called with concerns or questions.

KFC phone operators will now say: "KFC disagrees with PETA's claims. KFC believes that animals should be treated humanely. For this reason, KFC has established animal welfare guidelines for vendors who supply KFC restaurants with chicken," according to Yum documents provided to PETA.

Earlier, PETA said, the company told callers that PETA's claims are "untrue," and that chickens raised for KFC suffer no pain or injuries.

Okay, KFC. I agree that was just a small change, but what you have set now is a precedent. PETA. Will. Not. Stop. The next attack will be some permutation of this one; perhaps the thinktank that fosters PETA's "outreach" will deliver something with more glitz next time. Chrissy Hynde may haunt every store in the US soon. "Gonna make you notice." Paul McCartney can sing "Freedom" to the chickens. Say, you know, there was a skit on Saturday Night Live that basically covered this topic - it was a show opener back in the early 90's, my college days. A bunch of celebrities got together and cut a single much like "We are the World" to benefit the free-range chickens. Lyrics from said work include

raise your hands, raise your voice, give the vegans another choice

And...

Mister Farmer, take that feed
To the chicken's throa-oat.
To the chicken's throa-oat!
Let's build a world
where cages don't exist.
Tell the children
To tell the world
To tell the chickens that we are on our way!

(Courtesy of a good soul at Bully Magazine)

Yep, really. I through my extensive Google research have discovered that this very skit is on the Saturday Night Live: 25 Years of Music Performances and Sketches, Disk 4. And now I want it, of course.

Ahem. <seriousAgain>Remember, though, the single point of the winding post: There's no room for KFC in a vegan world.</seriousAgain>

hln

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The PETA Post!

Long have they lain dormant! But, again, today, PETA manages to make the news in the US.

PETA's back, and it's in your face. Well, it is if you're David Novak, CEO of KFC. What follows seems almost like a surreal bad dream, where your friend Tonya takes you to Denny's, but there's no non-smoking section, and they won't serve you pizza in a timely fashion, and you throw a frenzied tantrum rivalling that of a two-year-old child? Oh, that was Tuesday's dream. This is the PETA post, which goes a little something like this (line borrowed from my esteemed spouse.).

PETA Gets Personal in Campaign Against KFC.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is getting personal in its campaign to force fast-food chain KFC, a unit of Yum Brands Inc., to raise the living and dying conditions of the chickens it sells.

PETA, known for its relentless and celebrity-heavy campaigns, has begun sending volunteers to meet with Chief Executive David Novak's neighbors, pastor, country club, even the manager at his local Italian restaurant.

The group sent Steve Gross, a management consultant and conflict resolution expert, to Yum's hometown of Louisville, Kentucky about a week ago to canvas the neighborhoods where Novak and Cheryl Bachelder, KFC's president, live.

"While PETA continues to push for a vegetarian world, most people disagree," said Yum spokesman Jonathan Blum. "We have no comment on PETA's misinformation campaign."

Cha-ching! Score one tongue-in-cheek point for Blum.

Can you imagine? I mean, ding dong, doorbell. Who's there? Oh, a national obnoxious organization that just wants a few minutes of your time to blackball your neighbor. Lovely. What would I do? Invite them in and offer hamburger, I think.

PETA says it will target Novak, Bachelder and KFC until the fast food chain forces reforms from its chicken suppliers.

Former Beatle Paul McCartney (news) ran a full-page ad on behalf of PETA in the Louisville Courier-Journal in July, with an open letter asking Novak to improve conditions for the chickens used at KFC. Rap music producer and nascent political force Russell Simmons, called for a KFC boycott earlier this month, also on behalf of PETA.

Paul, be quiet and pay more attention to your new wife.

Simmons? Hmm. Kinda like me looking for my Instalanche. Hey, world! Notice me! I'll ally myself with something that gets my name in the papers. Cough. [Clears throat].

I know. As a PETA post goes, this one's kinda lame. Just like the group.

hln

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PETA Post!

Robert Prather from The Mind of Man found it before I did. And this time it's serious instead of merely ludicrous.

Quoting Robert:

Earth Liberation Front Bankrolled by PETA
I've never been a fan of PETA (see here, here, here and here) and their support for ELF, a group of domestic terrorists, won't improve my opinion of them.

The Earth Liberation Front is already considered the foremost domestic terrorist group (see here also) and a quick glance at their website will show why.

If PETA's support is verified and holds up in court, they should lose their tax-exempt status, at a minimum. If their support can be shown to contribute to acts of terror, they should be prosecuted.

I don't have his links embedded, so you should go and visit for the whole picture. Also, here's Robert's link to the original article.

hln

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Tim Blair Can Have the PETA Post

Tim Blair Can Have the PETA Post

Paul McCartney has joined the PETA onslaught on KFC! I got no fewer than three Yahoo alerts on this yesterday but still didn't deem it worthy of blog note.

I like Tim Blair's take on it, though, so I'll share that.

hln

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PETA PETA PETA (pander pander pander)

I have no fewer than THREE things to post about PETA today. I've been getting behind, you see.

1) First, I visted Boycott Hollywood today, and, much to my delight, there was a PETA-applicable post. In PETA Goes to the Movies, Reilly writes about Legally Blonde 2 (a movie I will not see) and Reese Witherspoon's character's interaction with the organization.

As he's discussing this, he's offering his own commentary. My favorite is a quote that Reilly lifted from Frontpage Magazine.

If we really believe that animals have the same right to be free from pain and suffering at our hands, then of course we're going to be blowing things up and smashing windows." Such violence, he adds, is "a great way to bring about animal liberation. I think it's perfectly appropriate for people to take bricks and toss them through the windows."

This is PETA's director Bruce Friedrich speaking. He's throwing the bricks through windows so the animals don't have to. And, if plantlife is threatened, the most logical next step would be sabotaging water fountains on streets that begin with the letter "R," right? I mean, however did I miss Friedrich's leap of logic there. Of course! Perhaps I need to enroll in a remedial logic program.

2) I'm actually surprised PETA isn't smashing windows over this article about Alec Baldwin and his "Meet your Meat" video. There's a rather sizeable error. Bad Baldwin.

In a letter to journalists, Baldwin said the film "documents the routine and horrific abuses that animals raised and killed for food endure and makes the case for Americans to adopt a vegetarian diet and enact humane legislation to weed out the worst abuses."

Um, Alec. It's VEGAN, not vegetarian. PETA doesn't endorse your three-egg omelet with cheese.

3) And, finally, I'll let this one speak for itself. A woman changed her named to GoVeg.com.

hln

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Chrissy Hynde? Who's That? On

On Thursday in Paris, in what can only be a publicity stunt or another manifestation of public idiocity, Pretenders' lead singer Chrissy Hynde got cozy with PETA in Paris (how...trendy).

PARIS, France (AP) -- Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders joined animal activists in a loud protest outside a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in central Paris.

...

Hynde and a dozen others, including leaders of the animal rights group PETA, were briefly detained by police after blocking traffic Wednesday on a main boulevard and smearing red paint across the restaurant's window to symbolize the blood of dead chickens.

"The protest won't end here," said the 51-year-old pop singer, who was scheduled to perform Friday in a pop music festival in western France. "Even if I shout for two hours I can assure you, I'll still have a voice for the concert."

And we care? Pleh. Protest some more, and land yourself back on the chain gang.

hln

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More PETA and KFC, courtesy

Of course, since I wrote about this, when I found the NRO article (Friday's - I missed it then because I was ill) entitled PETA-Fried, well, I felt I had to share.

My favorite spots?

Bachelder "jumped on the corporate jet and flew to PETA's hometown of Norfolk," PETA's website crowed, acquiescing to five of PETA's eight demands. According to the organization's victory report, among other matters, Bachelder pledged to install cameras in all of KFC's 29 slaughterhouses by the end of next year, with a plan to audit the tapes monthly. KFC also agreed 1) to ensure that its suppliers would add stimulation devices to the perches in the chicken sheds; 2) to move quickly to kill chickens in electric stun baths rather than merely immobilizing them; 3) to implement humane mechanized chicken-gathering systems; and 4) to provide increased space for chicken housing. KFC promised to report back to PETA on a regular basis to verify its compliance.

In return, PETA didn't have to agree to do much of anything. The anti-KFC campaign would continue, though with a 60-day suspension. PETA would not picket the 2003 annual shareholder meeting. It agreed to modify its website assertions about KFC, and suspended "all planned billboards." And it promised not to undertake further "step-ups" in the anti-KFC campaign for 60 days — meaning that it would be at least 61 days before protesters returned to picket Bachelder's home.

The promised reforms may all be fine, appropriate, and humane changes in the raising and slaughter of chickens. Indeed, it is an important human obligation to treat food animals properly and to kill them as humanely as is practicable. But it shouldn't take pressure from fanatics for corporate executives to do the right thing. Indeed, acting under such pressure merely adds to the power of animal-rights liberationists, making them an ever-greater threat to the legitimate use of animals.

If KFC thought that it had bought peace and security from PETA by so clearly and publicly caving in to the organization's threats and intimidation, it didn't know its enemy. I use the word enemy in its literal sense. PETA's goal is not to reform KFC's practices. It isn't ultimately seeking a universal standard for humane treatment of chickens by food producers. These goals are mere tactical efforts on the way to PETA's ultimate goal: driving KFC — and all other meat-serving fast-food restaurants — out of business.

Yes, indeed. PETA does think we should all be vegans. You can have my butter (on the rare occasions I choose to partake of it) when you <cliche>pry it from my cold, dead hands</cliche>.

And...

When I first read this, I almost spat out my morning coffee. PETA ideologues believe that killing animals for food is the moral equivalent of genocide. Indeed, PETA minions have for several months traveled the country promoting vegetarianism on college campuses in the "Holocaust on Your Plate" campaign. Holocaust on Your Plate explicitly equates animal husbandry and meat-eating with the death camps and the genocide of Jews in the Holocaust. To illustrate its thesis, PETA crassly juxtaposes photographs of a pile of dead pigs with a pile of the bodies of dead concentration-camp inmates and claims that "the leather sofa and handbag are the modern equivalent of the lampshades made from the skins of the people killed in the death camps."

It must be understood that PETA-type fanatics do not see Holocaust on Your Plate as hyperbole or metaphor. For them, it is a literal truth. Down to the bone marrow in their vegan bones, they believe that KFC's cooking of chickens is morally equivalent to SS guards' herding of Auschwitz inmates into the showers. One can only imagine the future potential for demagogic advertisements should KFC's suppliers begin the gas slaughter of birds.

The whole thing is really good, though, so if you get a chance, please check it out. I've said time and again that these PETA folks make animal activism into a sad, scary joke, but, as you can see, they get "results." Radicals.

hln

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KFC, Jason Alexander, Cruelty, PETA, and That Google Search "kfc tortures chickens"

Wow, how's that for an intro? I got the aforementioned hit yesterday afternoon at about 3:40 CST. Sorry I took so long to put up something relevant.

First, we have KFC's Animal (read: chicken - because mashed potatoes and biscuits aren't fauna) Welfare Policy.

Then, we have PETA and its lawsuit and a website dubbed KFC Cruelty.

And, because it wasn't interesting enough as it was, we have PETA nudging Jason Alexander out of his spokesperson role.

I bet all these things were what you were looking for, dude.

Now, what's the deal here? (Jason, you can go home now. Thanks. We're done discussing you). PETA, please sit in the corner and don't speak until addressed.

Let us drill down into KFC's website to the Poultry Welfare Guidelines (An Overview). This is obviously marketingspeak, as the "welfare" of the animal when it is delivered to KFC is, well, moot. But, the bit where it says it audits its suppliers, okay, I'll take heed now and pay attention to the presentation (below).

1. General
Supplier must have a documented program for animal welfare including a designated program leader, formal employee training, and a system of regular self-audits and recordkeeping. Corrective action for violations must be clearly stated and effective.

Birds arriving at the plant must be clean and in good health. If audit reveals dirty or sick birds, corrective action at the grow-out house must be taken.

2. Raising
KFC prohibits its suppliers from using growth-promoting substances, and requires its suppliers to raise birds in clean chicken houses with appropriate space and proper ventilation.

KFC prohibits suppliers from de-beaking any poultry that will be sold in our restaurants.

3. Catching
Birds arriving at the plant must be free of injury. KFC requires suppliers to implement an incentive program that rewards catching crews for minimizing injury if audit reveals that birds are being injured during the catching process.

4. Transport
Transport crates must be in good repair - i.e. no crate damage that would allow injury to birds or allow crates to accidentally open. Transport crates must not be over-filled and enough space must be provided to allow all birds to lie down.

5. Holding
Birds held in storage sheds must be provided adequate ventilation and climate control (fans/curtains).

6. Stunning
Stunning equipment must be maintained to ensure all birds are unconscious prior to slaughter, and the time between stunning and slaughter must be limited to ensure that no bird regains consciousness prior to slaughter.

7. Humane Slaughter
State of the art slaughter equipment must be properly maintained to ensure all birds are slaughtered quickly and without pain.

Okay - seven habits for highly effective bird growing and slaughter. And what does PETA have to say about this?

(From KFC Cruelty site

- A fisk of a fisk)

What follows are actual quotes from KFC.com, as displayed on January 1, 2003, shown in italics, coupled with PETAÂ’s responses.

Animal Treatment: Yum! Brands believes treating animals with care and respect is a key part of our quality assurance efforts. This means animals should be free from mistreatment at all times—from how they are raised and cared for to how they’re transported and processed. Our goal is to ensure an environment that’s free from cruelty, abuse and neglect.

We challenge anyone to review the treatment of chickens that PETA is addressing, none of which can be denied by KFC, and suggest that KFC is not cruel to chickens. From hatching to slaughter, KFCÂ’s chickens endure lives of unmitigated misery.

The science is totally clear on all the issues that PETA has raised; not only is Yum! ignoring the latest research on gas killing of chickens, broiler breeders, and the other issues that we raise, it has also done absolutely nothing to improve the lives of any other animals who are killed for its restaurants (e.g., fish for Long John Silver, or cattle, pigs, and dairy cows for Taco Bell, A&W, and Pizza Hut). As the most glaring example from among many, the latest research is clear on gestation crates, which were recently banned by voter initiative in Florida because of their excessive cruelty, yet Yum! does nothing about them.

Okay. Hello? Weren't we talking about KFC and its suppliers? I'm certain we were. (Checking website name...yep!). And those "many examples" of which you spoke - show me. Defend, justify, and explain.

Furthermore, cruelty to animals can be more subtle than overtly violent abuse. Denying animals the opportunity to act according to their natures can be even more cruel than harming them physically, and KFC denies chickens almost every natural desire and need—from foraging to dustbathing to forming reasonable social hierarchies (pecking orders).

Hmm - again, I thought we had issues with the suppliers. I assure you, there are not chickens running around Yum!'s corporate offices, and the only chickens to arrive through the store doors are quite assuredly dead, at which time they no longer have social hierarchies.

Partnership: Yum! Brands partners with experts on our Animal Welfare Council and our suppliers to implement humane procedures/guidelines and to audit our suppliers to ensure the guidelines are being met.

We challenge Yum! to name one—just one—procedure or guideline that it has implemented for the humane treatment of animals on farms or during transport. Animals spend the majority of their lives on farms, yet Yum! has not done a single thing to address the treatment of animals in that area. Yum!’s supposed “guidelines” address only the slaughterhouse, and even there they are woefully inadequate. The birds are dumped from crates, often breaking limbs, and their injured legs are snapped painfully into metal shackles. Animal welfare experts are in agreement that chickens are often conscious throughout the slaughter process, resulting in the tremendous suffering of millions from being shocked by machinery, having their throats cut, and being scalded alive. Yet Yum!’s guidelines protect birds from none of these abuses, and Yum! refuses to adopt the gas killing of birds, which would eliminate them all.

You know, I acutally asked a coworker how chickens are humanely killed on farms, and he said, "you wring their necks." Now, I'll argue that a slaughterhouse is most likely the saddest place in this country. I still don't see any direct examples of when these horrible injustices were perpetrated on birds 277 and 293. Where's the evidence, PETA?

More than half of all chickens killed for KFC are consumed outside of the United States, yet KFC has not said a single thing about applying any animal welfare standards outside the U.S., despite the implication that its standards apply to all suppliers. Yum! also claims that its suppliers are being audited, but we ask whether a single audit has ever resulted in disciplinary action. If not, might the reason be that Yum!’s “standards” are, in fact, simply the same abusive status quo that has been in existence for years?

EVIDENCE! Please! I want to believe you - my bleeding-heart animal-loving self (yeah, I have some liberal components to my conservative nature) wants to believe that if an organization is going to claim outrage, it can logically back its claims. Sigh - mere rhetoric and a wimpy challenge.

Performance Quantification & Follow-up: Yum! BrandsÂ’ animal welfare guidelines are specific and quantifiable. Yum! Brands measures performance against these guidelines through audits of our suppliers and ensures that all purchasing strategies are aligned with our commitment to animal welfare.

If Yum! has “specific and quantifiable” guidelines, then why has no one ever seen them? This is Yum!’s most clearly duplicitous claim. Without written copies of these guidelines available to the public, how can Yum! expect anyone to believe that they exist? And again, what supplier has ever been sanctioned for violations?

Yeah, I know that tactic - it's called instill doubt with big, sweeping, general accusations.

To assist us in [our] effort, Yum! Brands formed the Yum! Brands Animal Welfare Advisory Council, which consists of highly regarded experts in the field. The Council provides us with advice and recommendations based on key data and scientific research. It has been a key factor in formulating Yum! Brands animal welfare program. Members of our Council include: • Dr. Temple Grandin, Colorado State University • Dr. Ian Duncan, Dept. of Animal & Poultry Science, University of Guelph, Ontario • Dr. Joy Mench, Director of the Center for Animal Welfare, U. of Cal., Davis • Adele Douglass, Ex. Dir., Farm Animal Services, American Humane Association • Dr. Bruce Webster, The University of Georgia • Ellis Brunton, Senior VP of Science & Regulatory Affairs, Tyson Foods • Dr. Jim Ayres, Director of Research & Quality Assurance, Goldkist, Inc

It is true that KFC has hired some people that PETA suggested, specifically Dr. Temple Grandin, Dr. Joy Mench, and Dr. Ian Duncan, as well as farmed-animal expert Adele Douglass, for its animal welfare panel. But even as Dr. Mench writes papers on the suffering of broiler breeders, KFC does nothing; even as Dr. Duncan discusses the inherent abuse of present slaughter methods, KFC does nothing, and so on. In two years, the panel has held three conference calls—not because the animal welfare panelists are unwilling to improve bird welfare, but more likely because KFC and the industry panelists are not willing.

Ellis Brunton and. Jim Ayres work for the exploiters, not the reformers. One naysayer on any committee can slow or totally stifle progress. The inclusion on the panel of representatives of the chicken-killing industry—the very industry that has claimed, always, that no reform is required—shows that KFC’s efforts are not likely to move quickly or effectively. This has been borne out by 21 months of work resulting in less progress for chickens than has been achieved by McDonald’s, Burger King, or Wendy’s and no progress on decreasing suffering for any other animal.

More broad bushstrokes and naming names. I mean, come on, PETA, Yum! supplied the names for you, so don't hoot and holler that you actually got some objective evidence in a paragraph of your diatribe. Again, disappointing set of paragraphs if one is looking to substantiate a claim.

Yum! Brands Animal Welfare Progress: Established the Yum! Brands Animal Welfare Advisory Council to help formalize our animal welfare program. The Council, which consists of leading scientists and academics in the field of animal welfare, works with Yum! Brands and its suppliers to ensure our practices are aligned with the latest research and thinking in the field of animal welfare.

As discussed above, the science is totally clear on all the issues that PETA has raised; not only is Yum! ignoring the latest research on gas killing of chickens, broiler breeders, and the other issues that we have addressed, it has also done nothing to improve the lives of fish for Long John Silver or cattle, pigs, and dairy cows for Taco Bell, A&W, and Pizza Hut. As the most glaring example, the latest research is clear on gestation crates, which were recently banned by voter initiative in Florida because of their excessive cruelty, yet Yum! does nothing about them. The company is ignoring, rather than aligning its practices with, the latest research and thinking in the field of animal welfare.

Damn! There it is again! Reductio ad absurdum! Were we not discussing chicken? The perils of copy...paste.

It's a lot of blah blah blah from here.

I'm certain PETA has some valid claims - after all, in the scheme of things, mass produced dinner animals probably have short, rotten, painful lives. It's too bad PETA can't synthesize the reality from the rhetoric into a stronger argument that rational America could digest and perhaps rally behind.

Incidentally, and off topic, I took a graduate class in Persuasive Attack and Defense. What we have here is PETA issuing a kategoria, an attack. Theoretically, if this attack actually damages KFC's reputation (in the company's eyes), what will take place next is the Image Restoration stage, strategies of which include denial, evading responsibility, reducing offensiveness, corrective action, and mortification (asking for forgiveness), or any mixture of these. KFC can also attack its accuser, shift the blame, focus on other issues, or redefine the attack. Glad I kept Dr. Benoit's book, Accounts, Excuses, and Apologies for handy reference in times like these. (And, of course, I'm horribly oversimplifying).

hln

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