Sharpton Joins With an Animal Rights Group in Calling for a Boycott of KFC

[truthpusher]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/02/business/02chicken.html

Sharpton Joins With an Animal Rights Group in Calling for a Boycott of KFC
By MELANIE WARNER

Published: February 2, 2005

The Rev. Al Sharpton will not eat at KFC and he doesn't think you should either.

Starting today, Mr. Sharpton is joining forces with the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to urge a boycott of KFC, which is owned by Yum Brands of Louisville, Ky. Mr. Sharpton and PETA want the fast food chain to require its chicken suppliers to put in place new standards for the treatment of the 750 million chickens they process for KFC every year in the United States. The rap mogul Russell Simmons is also joining the Sharpton campaign.

"If we give our money to KFC, we're paying for a life of misery for some of God's most helpless creatures," says Mr. Sharpton in an eight-minute video that will be shown outside KFC's around the country.

PETA has been waging a campaign against KFC for two years. The organization was eager to enlist Mr. Sharpton because KFC has many stores in largely black neighborhoods and in late 2003 KFC executives told investors they were making an increased effort to market to blacks.

Mr. Sharpton and PETA are demanding that KFC force its chicken suppliers, like Pilgrim's Pride and Perdue, to give chickens more room in factory barns and to make use of a process that puts birds to sleep with nitrogen before they are killed. They are also asking KFC to stop its suppliers from forcing such rapid, hormone-driven growth that the birds crumple under their own weight.

complete story:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/02/business/02chicken.html

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Not to mention that they chop off their beaks so they don't damage

each other in the close quarters in which they are kept...
CHOP OFF THEIR BEAKS..with a paper slicer!
Corporate farming is the most disgusting thing you could ever want to see......or never see!!!

[Kagemusha]

14. Do you know what chickens do to each other?...

A chicken somehow injured is pounced on and pecked to pieces with those beaks. And the pecking is done while the chicken's still alive, mind you. They just get ripped to pieces by the other chicken, which are very good at using those beaks for the purpose.

Fine if you think man being cruel to chicken is wrong. But christ, chickens can be cruel to other chickens too. In fact, it's their instinct to be that way.

And that's why, I imagine, the beaks are being sliced off.

Let's just be clear: You're using the act itself to show how this is inhumane. Well chickens act inhumane too. Find better propaganda.

[ProudToBeLiberal]

16. Hmmm so human's should cut off their hands too?

If we didn't have hands we wouldn't be able to use guns to kill each other, weild knives to stab people etc...so Should we?

[CHICKEN CAPITOL USA]

56. chicken capitol usa--I'm back in black

To hell with KFC!!!
and anyone who supports them deserves to see the truth, before they go git a buckit--!!

[Undercover Owl]

17. There are other offenses by KFC

Reputable chicken farms use a nail-gun to the chicken's head before dismembering.

PETA reports that at KFC farms, the chickens are stunned with an electric shock, which sometimes is insufficient to make them unconscious before dismembering.

[LeftyMom]

21. I expect animals to act like animals

but people should be held to a higher standard than poultry.

Overcrowded cages help cause the agression. When the animals are kept in less confined space and in numbers sufficiently small to allow thwm to establish some social order, debeaking is unneeded.

[NickB79]

24. Our chickens usually had to have their beaks clipped

And they had a 200 sq. foot mini-pasture enclosure attached to their chicken coop. We normally raised 50 chickens each summer, butchering most in the fall except for a few saved for egg-laying over winter. The previous poster is right: chickens do act inhumanely towards one another short of being left free-range. We didn't have to clip the beaks of our free-range banty chickens, but they were skilled, mean mothers when it came to living on their own. The more domesticated breeds like Leghorns would have been torn apart by cats, foxes, coyotes and weasels if they weren't fenced in.

[AlienGirl]

34. Our Rhode Island reds never did

We had a small flock of Rhode Island reds who were fenced in, and who were confined in a heated coop all winter. They weren't debeaked.

Tucker

[d.l.Green]

85. You put these birds in unnatural conditions they will do unnatural things-

DUH! Just because it's inconvenient or impossible to raise these birds for food in human civilization doesn't justify blaming the birds for their actions. Even though these birds live naturally in flocks, when the flocks are too large, the birds go literally insane. Their feet are clipped so their nails don't grow around the mess floors that are in place to wash their excrement away. Not having ever seen this reality I still have nightmares about it. An insane, beakless, toeless, full of toxic adrenaline(as a constant defense mechanism), excrement covered bird- mmmm, mmmmm, good! Why anyone would eat the muscle tissue of any creature who was so mistreated is beyond me.

[livinginphotographs]

75. Regarding your quote....

"I expect animals to act like animals, but people should be held to a higher standard than poultry."

Care if I steal that for my sig line? That was probably one of the most insightful animal-related comments I've ever seen in the LBN or GD forums.

[burythehatchet]

26. chicken on chicken violence is reaching epidemic proportions

its an under-reported story

[PaulaFarrell]

48. Chickens only do that much if they're kept in factory conditions

IN a free-range system, they would rarely or never do that, and they're not de-beaked.

[Willy Lee]

50. In more humane settings chickens wouldn't behave this way.

I have chickens. Lots of them. Given space to move around and a half-way decent habitat this wouldn't happen.

[VegasWolf]

52. You know, chickens really can't act inhuman! It's not their nature!n/t

[jdj]

62. they do it to save money.

chickens get injured, get sick, get infected, die.

Hurts the bottom line.

It's done without any anesthesia,of course, and it's painful.

Why the fuck should the animal suffer that way.

[amazona]

71. chickens live to fight and f----

The male chicken is a little ball of testosterone, and all chickens are aggressive and territorial if their space is encroached.

I'm not sure how you could have large-scale production of chicken without de-beaking the birds. As Kagemusha states, it would be more cruel to have many chickens together who were not debeaked. And at current population levels we do need to have large scale food production. It is that or watch people die of hunger.

Yes, chickens should receive good care, but I'm inclined to believe that in a large scale situation, that properly done debeaking is going to be part of good care.

On Edit-- agreed with another poster. When I kept chickens, I had few in a wide area. They did not need to be debeaked because they would not cannibalize each other given sufficent free range. But I have seen free range chickens offered for sale for $10. Who can afford that?

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[cry baby]

88. I've seen that happen. I rescued a chick that was being pecked to

death by other chickens. This chick had a small sore on it and the other chickens didn't like that. They started pecking the little thing until it almost had no feathers left. I got it out of the pen and nursed it back to health, put it back in with the chickens. As long as there was nothing wrong with it, they left it alone.

Not advocating cutting off their beaks, though.

[fishwax]

89. Chickens act inhumane too? ROTFLMAO

Of course, they aren't "human," so, like, duh?

[BikeWriter]

22. Their beak is like your fingernail. n/t

[AlienGirl]

35. Not so--more like your finger tip

The outside is keratin, but the inside is sensitive tissue. Chicks who have been debeaked will pain-guard for days, drastically reducing the amount of food they eat due to evident pain.

Tucker

[Charon]

25. Chopping off Beaks

I got a job debeaking turkeys back in the early 60's. Small family farm, the guy raised a few hundred turkeys for Thanksgiving sale.
All of the turkey farmers that I knew of in SW Washington State at that time debeaked their turkeys.

[expatriot]

2. Way to go Rev. Sharpton! You just won back some of my love!

[mopinko]

3. ya know, i have problems with peta, and some of the rhetoric

around organic farming, and factory farming. i think a lot of it falls into the naturalistic fallacy- nature is good and pure, humans, and especially money, are evil. just too simplistic.
BUT, jim hightower has convinced me that small food can make a difference. i can't afford to feed 6 people all organic food. so, i decided that i could do ONE thing. and that is that i buy organic, free range, cruelty free eggs. ok, it is small. cruelty free eggs cost about 4 times regular eggs. the good shopper in me still flinches a little bit. but i just do it. cuz it is my one thing.
why? cuz i have a soft spot for chickens. i don't know why. i just like chickens. besides, they are better eggs. especially for baking. they are so freakin' yellow!
i already don't eat kfc.

[Name removed]

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[Mystified]

5. He must be getting desperate

While I agree that the conditions are deplorable and should be improved, this issue is not exactly the biggest issue facing our country. He should take up the cause of paper trails on voting machines, Iraq War, preventing war with Iran, civil liberties, or a whole host of other issues. This seems like a sideshow by comparison.

[Name removed]

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[Mystified]

9. Huh?

What are you talking about?

[w4rma]

13. Yes. Mutually Assured Destruction has been policy for decades.

You aren't some genius with a new idea.

[tnliberaldemocrat]

7. OK....

I'm gonna go to KFC tomorrow and enjoy a nice 4-piece meal. Yum yum!!

[burythehatchet]

27. enjoy ...watch it with a movie....I'll recommend Supersize Me

enjoy

[SOS]

28. Thank you for supporting the Republican Party

KFC gives 83% of it's campaign contributions to Republicans.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[fishwax]

91. So is your problem with Reverend Al or chickens or PETA, or

are you just trying to be provocative?

[Merope215]

8. Good for Al Sharpton.

I've always sort of thought he was a little crazy, but trying to stop egregious animal abuse is a kind thing to do. More power to him.

[Zynx]

10. Mmmmm, chicken

That KFC barbecue is DAMN good.

[Name removed]

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[NIGHT TRIPPER]

59. maybe you'd like to try some of my bbq'd chimp ?

finger likkkin good--
I'd que up a chimp before I'd support the harming of animals

[WindRavenX]

11. good for Sharpton and for PETA

As one of PETA's harshiest critics, I am glad to see them doing something good.

[Undercover Owl]

12. Also, didn't KFC donate $$$ to Repukes?

Now you have more than one reason to avoid KFC!

I have despised KFC ever since their ad campaign about 10 years ago, with a white voice squealing in a black accent "yo' neck o da wooods!"

[BrightKnight]

54. I believe the parent company YUM advertised on Sinclair .

I don't recall if it was for Taco Bell, Pizza Hut , or KFC.

[Redstone]

69. It's actually YUM! (with the exclamation point)

Really.

I guess they think the added emphasis of the (!) will fool us into thinking that KFC food actually tastes like something other than salty grease.

If you live in the East and want some decent fast-food chicken, try Popeye's.

Redstone

[NuttyFluffers]

15. meh, liked popeye's more anyways

keep on keepin' on al. love ya from the speech during the democratic convention.

[lynne]

18. Looks like Al just gave KFC some free media time -

- and probably increased chicken consumption by 20%.

So when is he going to start throwing buckets of feathers on people as they walk into the KFC???

Sheesh . . .

[Name removed]

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[NIGHT TRIPPER]

58. how silly isn't it

see my post below.
Silly silly silly

[MisterP]

19. KFC: "We treat our employees better than our chickens--by a small margin"

[evolvenow]

20. Go Al!! Next step, no KFC, it is horrible for the animals , heart attacks

for people!

[Vektor]

23. KFC sucks ass.

Yeah, I was less than thrilled to see footage of plant employees torturing and killing the animals by stomping on them and smashing them into walls by the feet until their feet broke off. It was wanton cruelty perpetuated by sick, sick individuals. They may have been "just chickens" but anyone who is so loathsome as to perform such senseless acts of cruelty upon innocent animals deserves no better than to die the same way.

Give em hell, Sharpton.

[mudderfudder77]

29. Yeah but,

Those Honey Bar-B-Que wings are damn good. I think most people would be uncomfortable if they were to walk into any slaughter facility. But those are the choices we make. Until organic and free range can compete price wise these conditions will remain the same.

[lynne]

30. You are right, price is the key -

- chicken is one of the most affordable and one of the healthiest sources of protein available. The demands being made are not only to KFC but to growers, including Perdue, one of the largest.

Yes, let's improve conditions for the chickens. We have no clue if the chickens are aware of the difference given that their nervous systems and mental capacities are entirely different from our own BUT it will make us feel better.

While living conditions for the chickens will improve, the retail price of chickens will increase to such that those very persons who depend on chicken as a healthy source of protein - the poor - are no longer able to afford to buy it.

Who suffers then????

[d.l.Green]

33. First off, there is no such thing as not getting enough protein,

and chicken is not nearly by far the most affordable source, beans and nuts are. And they don't add uric acid and cholestorol and indigestible fats to your system. And most chicken in these fast food places is fried causing many more problems than benefits for one's health.

[phasev]

44. bravo... good post n/t

[Name removed]

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[AlienGirl]

41. "We have no clue if the chickens are aware..."

Actually that isn't true. http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=chickens&btnG=Google+Search&domains=YOUR+DOMAIN+NAME&sitesearch=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.grandin.com

Tucker

[amazona]

83. i've raised chickens as pets and chickens are aware

They feel, they suffer, and especially they lust. They deserve the best care we can give them, certainly.

But people also feel and suffer, and chickens are a valuable source of food calories that can be grown very cheaply.

Balance.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[phasev]

43. Chicken is not a healthy source of protein

Yes, let's improve conditions for the chickens. We have no clue if the chickens are aware of the difference given that their nervous systems and mental capacities are entirely different from our own BUT it will make us feel better.

While living conditions for the chickens will improve, the retail price of chickens will increase to such that those very persons who depend on chicken as a healthy source of protein - the poor - are no longer able to afford to buy it.

Chickens are a healthy source of protein? What about the cholesterol that you get from eating chicken? There are other healthier sources of protein out there besides chicken and if you don't believe me then you have not done your homework.

[d.l.Green]

31. Um, you need change your frame of mind, it's the cost that's paid

to produce such "food" that's the problem. It's not "affordable" if that $1 chicken sandwich is supporting low wages(more gov't welfare), environmentally damaging factory farms, wasteful overpackaging, undernourishment, obesity, etc, etc...

It's the American way that convenience and "price" trumps cost.

[Name removed]

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[mudderfudder77]

46. How do you expect

a family of four just trying to get buy to pay an extra $1.00 or more per pound for organic and free range poultry or produce? Until cost are more competitive the market will dictate what people buy. Not everybody can or will live off of nuts, especially when there is a low cost alternative. FYI, there are more jobs outsourced to the US than any other country.

[fishwax]

94. Until people give large corporations the incentive

to produce affordable but less offensive products, then they never will. If you put some pressure on them, then they have the incentive to innovate new ways of doing things. In that way, consumers exercise some control over the market. The same thing happened with post-consumer recycled goods. Companies used to argue that it was too expensive to recycle and use recycled materials. Once the public made them believe that they couldn't afford not to, because not doing so would seriously hurt market share, well lo-and-behold but that little recycling symbol started popping up everywhere.

And besides that, KFC isn't really all that affordable for a family of four just trying to get by. They'd be better off buying chicken at the grocery (which, depending on the brand) can be considerably more humanely raised then KFCs. So the whole left-is-right, up-is-down straw man doesn't really work in this case.

[d.l.Green]

32. Well, it is a good cause but isn't this more like Sharpton following the $

trail that Jesse Jackson did? If I remember correctly the story was that JJ accepted a payoff from another fast food chain to stop his organization from boycotting it. The power struggle between these two egoists continues... No matter what Sharpton does he will never live down the damage he caused the upstate NY Hudson Valley community with the Tawana Brawley affair. However in all the junk that JJ was involved in he certainly redeemed himself with the election fraud issue.

[William Bloode]

47. I could care less.

They are bred and raised to be killed and eaten. Theres no need to be civil to them in the raising.

I object more to the harmful steroids and hormones given to them to increase growth rate. Chickens go from peep to full grown chicken in just 3 months. In the natural world and unaided by drugs a 3 month old bird is just a pullet or adolescent.

There has been allot of conjecture that these hormones could be responsible for such things as young girls starting puberty at such young ages as 8-9yrs.

Sorry no sympathy for chickens here.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

61. callous and insensitive isn't necessarily "cool" is it?

chickens live to be 10 yrs old
Killing 750 million a year of any animal is a bit out of hand.
And they do have feelings.
Funny how a modern society still has to kill, and how so many think nothing of it.
There is a bridge between killing "lesser" animals and killing higher ones (humans).
Lots o' little Gacy's sprouting up are getting their start harming little animals.

[Theres-a]

68. Like putting firecrackers in frogs mouths?

[SOS]

80. Callous, insensitive and cruel

are the norm on any thread regarding animal welfare.
Our entire society is becoming callous, insensitive and cruel, so it's no surprise.
Many seem to believe that a disregard for suffering, whether it's Republicans laughing at dead Iraqis or DUers laughing at animal cruelty, is "cool". Every person will eventually suffer in this life. Those who have shown no compassion will receive none when it's their turn.
As George Carlin once said:
"Of course you're depressed, you live in a neon sewer".

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

87. great post!-laughing my ass off at that George Carlin Joke! theTRUTH hurts

That is so well put- I've attemped to get that point across so many times but you "few words "method does it so well--
"Every person will eventually suffer in this life."...yep

I've been trying so many times to explain on animal cruelty threads that if we surround ouselves in blood in our daily lives, why are we so surprised when disaster , blood, accidents, murder and large scale(911 etc.,) ,strike home?
Not many people ever understood what I meant.
I'm trying your approach from now on.
!!!
also....love that joke!!!

[AngryAmish]

108. winner!

[amazona]

72. U.S. chickens are not given hormones

Who has money to spend on steroids and hormones for a chicken that will sell RETAIL in the grocery store at 49 cents a pound, the cost of my last chicken from Sanderson Farms?

This is a long-standing myth that chickens are pumped full of hormones. The super-chickens are the result of breeding and applied genetics. They are not the result of hormones.

This article is from Tyson but is in agreement with what I have heard from those who have a contract to raise chickens for Tyson:

http://www.tysonfoodsinc.com/corporate/news/viewNews.asp?article=772

No hormones, no steroids. It is time to let this myth die. Chicken is an excellent source of calories and protein. It is a healthy food.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[livinginphotographs]

77. Iraq had WMDs.

Of course, the only article I can site came from the Bush administration, but is in agreement with what I have heard from those who have a contract to drill for oil.

Did I sufficiently point out the flaw in your logic, or do you need me to post more?

[amazona]

81. if you have evidence of hormones/steroids in chicken post it

I don't believe you can. My contacts in the poultry industry have no reason to lie. They eat chicken.

Do you understand that the profit on each chicken is literally pennies a pound? Sometimes 2 or 3 cents a pound?

The cost of chicken is sufficient proof to me that my friends -- who are NOT in the Bush administration -- are honest. There is no wiggle room in the "expense" column to waste money on such drugs for chickens.

You know, five years ago, the claim was the Bill Clinton was the villain behind Tyson Foods and the mass production of chicken. And now it is our own Herr Caligula?

Please. We do our cause no credit when we spread proven lies. Especially when they are un-original lies originally invented to smear Clinton!

There are no hormones or steroids in Tyson chickens. Period.

"Logic" is not the issue. It is a matter of fact.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[livinginphotographs]

92. I won't argue with you about the hormones.

You say you work in the industry, so I'll take your word on that. I just see a slight flaw in posting an article from Tyson defending Tyson. Sorry if I'm a bit skeptical. And I was in no way trying to smear Clinton, I don't even know where you got that from.

One concern might be disease. Living your entire life up to your knees in feces probably can't be one of the healthiest environments.

http://www.chickenindustry.com/cfi/broilerindustryreport/selectivebreeding/

[gulfcoastliberal]

79. The protein in their feed comes from hormone treated cows

and carries the risk of transmitting CJD.

[amazona]

82. it absolutely does not carry any such risk

The protein in their feed comes from a wide variety of sources, even restaurant waste, because this is what chickens do -- they turn trash into tasty and useful protein.

Be that as it may, there has never been even one case of anyone in all of human history acquiring CJD from a chicken.

Lying is a technique that should be left to the GOP. We do ourselves great harm by trading our reputation for idealism and honesty just to take a few cheap shots at the unpopular industry of the week.

If there be concerns about the care of the chickens -- and I have been concerned enough about what I've heard in regard to Pilgrim's Pride to avoid Pilgrim's Pride products -- fine. End the cruelty. End the bad care.

But to spread lies and exaggerations about an entire industry is a great way to lose all credibility and therefore any chance to make needed changes.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

111. false- google prion-see mad cow transmitted by lambs, fish, others

The prion cannot be detroyed by heat or any other method.
If the feed is contaminated because it has remanents of an infected cow, it can travel to the next host and the next etc.,
Don't believe me.
The lack of "credibility" is fueled by the desperation of the greedy industry interest.
They don't want anyone to know, so they make it seem like "conspiracy theory" whacko shit.
Typical play from the RepubliKKKORP playbook.
Like I said. don't believe me though, look around, snoop around and see what youo find.

[Runcible Spoon]

93. wow must make life easier not caring about helpless creatures...

why don't you go sign up for Blackwater Security? They need coldblooded killers with no conscience. Good money, I hear.

[UncleSepp]

49. Some of God's most helpless creatures

I really like how he put that. Can we have a few more public religious figures who speak and act as if they are full of God and not full of crap? Please?

[AlienGirl]

65. Tonight, when the rabbi and the mullah were arm in arm, singing

...and a congregation full of people who drink the same water from many different wells were enjoying each other's company, I thought of that post on this thread, and I think I know.

I think the reason there aren't more public religious leaders who are genuinely spiritual is that the genuinely spiritual ones are too busy working within their own communities. Rabbi Ted and Mullah Jamal are both the real thing and I don't think either of them could fit in regularly-scheduled TV appearances.

Tucker

[wicket]

51. hoo boy

n/t

[NorthSideCubsFan]

53. This is not PETAs real agenda and you know it.

From their own website:

"PETA operates under the simple principle that animals are not ours to eat....."

If KFC acquiesced in everything PETA wanted it would make little difference to those who adhere to that "simple principle".

Certainly we can and should avoid needless cruelty, but I think that animals are there to eat, and I'm going to continue eating them.

[Lorien]

60. Then we disagree n/t

[CHICKEN CAPITOL USA]

55. Jason Alexander withdrew his support -he QUIT kfc Commercials

"PETA said its drive against one of the world's top fast-food companies was having an effect, as the company's US advertising frontman Jason Alexander, the actor who played George Costanza of television's "Seinfeld," had lost the lucrative contract because of his opposition to the treatment of KFC chickens.

The activists' group insists Alexander was either sacked or quit as KFC's top US sales face when he allegedly clashed with the corporation over the treatment of chickens after PETA drew his attention to the issue."
http://www.spcnetwork.com/mii/2003/030717.htm

" Chickens are inquisitive and interesting animals who are thought to be as intelligent as cats, dogs, and even primates. When in their natural surroundings, rather than on factory farms, they form friendships and social hierarchies, recognize one another, care for their young, and enjoy a full life of dustbathing, making nests, roosting in trees, and more.

The more than 750 million chickens raised each year for KFC’s restaurants aren’t able to do any of these things. They are crammed by the tens of thousands into sheds that stink of ammonia fumes from accumulated waste and given barely enough room to move (each bird lives in a space about the size of a sheet of paper). They routinely suffer broken bones from being bred to be top-heavy, being subjected to callous handling (workers roughly grab birds by their legs and stuff them into crates), and being shackled upside-down at slaughterhouses. Chickens are often still fully conscious when their throats are cut and when they are dumped into tanks of scalding-hot water to remove their feathers. When they’re killed, chickens are still babies, not yet 2 months old out of a natural life span of more than 10 years. "

http://www.maineanimalcoalition.org/artman/publish/article_521.shtml

This is serious shit to some of us while others don't seem to even want to attempt to understand the idea that even a chicken has feelings similar to our pets and even similar to ourselves.
For those who think it's ok to abuse chickens because they have a lower IQ than us, then why don't we abuse and eat retarded people or for that matter the Chimp himself !!
Compassion for all creatures--that's what I preach.
GO SHARPTON!!! .
if you think he's just "silly" that's your choice. Free country(at least we think it is).
If some people want to stick up for those creatures that can't defend themselves from brutality of humans then MORE POWER TO THEM.

How many serial killers started out small with iddy biddy wittle animals?

It's WRONG.
even if you think that the animals taste good--it's still wrong--

http://www.kentuckyfriedcruelty.com/

http://www.paw-talk.net/forums/showthread.php?t=20607

[AgadorSparticus]

57. kudos to everyone taking a stand. i've boycotted KFC for 1.5 yrs

...ever since peta sent me all that information on them.

[jdj]

63. I live in chicken and turkey house country.

The other day a girl in one of my classes said that those houses are one of the worst smells she has ever smelled.

Great.

And they CANNOT keep help, so it must be a horrible horrible job. I check the jobs listing daily for my county and those jobs turn over almost weekly. Since I live 2 miles from a Tyson plant, and about 5 miles from a Pilgrims Pride, I see the trucks ful of birds almost every single day. They are pitiful, sick, dirty, almost featherless, covered in urine and their skin always looks really red and inflamed.

And then they get to the plant and get tortured by the workers. PETA did a sting at a Tyson's where they filmed the workers ripping the birds apart and blowing them up with CO2.

The whole industry is horrifying, as well as the battery hen industry.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

64. you probably have some valuable information

And it sounds like you really feel for the animals.

*******If you contacted any of the organized efforts against the abuse, I'm sure they'd be likely to give a good listen and may even be able to use your insider's perspective to some advantage.
I hope you'll consider contacting someone and offering your info contribution.
*******
No matter if you do pursue it or not, I can tell you are honorable and have good intentions.
I wish you all the best!!!!
times a thousand!!

[amazona]

70. I thought the sting was at Pilgrim's Pride

PETA did a sting at a Tyson's where they filmed the workers ripping the birds apart and blowing them up with CO2.


I am close to someone who has done work in a few Tyson's plants and never seen anything like this. But I realize they do have a great many plants and no doubt some are under better management than others.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[truthpusher]

76. OMG, please don't give me a reason to like Jason Alexander! n/t

[JerseygirlCT]

66. Honest question?

Why would KFC be any worse than other fast food places selling chicken? Are they the best known, and so the focus?

In other words, when the kids need chicken fingers, does going somewhere else really make a difference?

[justiceischeap]

67. Maybe it has something to do with the fact

That they are the largest purchaser of inhumanely raised/slaughtered chickens for the purposes of consumption. It seems if they can get KFC to use more humane methods of slaughter, smaller companies would follow their lead. It seemed to work with McDonald's, who are now looking at using controlled atmosphere killing, which is much more humane.

PS, I don't really think the kids need chicken fingers. This is part of the reason why we have a weight epidemic in so many of our kids. Junk food is not health food and chicken fingers are junk food.

[JerseygirlCT]

73. Believe me, that was said sarcastically

*they* think they need chicken fingers; their mother doesn't always agree!

Makes sense... target the big one, and the others would fall in place. I was just wondering...

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

84. 750 million reasons, to be exact, talk about the Holocaust each year for

750 million who happened to be born "lesser" than human.
Industrialized farming and animal engineering is out of hand and has to be stopped.
It's not the old down home farm any more.
These ultra mega operations need to be exposed and the public can then make an educated decision as to whether or not to support these exploitative corporate endeavors.

[Chicago Democrat]

74. All Chicken is suspect.. But especially this new "All Breast No Feathers"

Frankenstein breed that KFC developed. It doesn't have 3 asses, but it looks like an ugly freak and when you see l ultra large breast and tiny weeny little legs and wings in the store that's it! Its everywhere now..I've even seen these chicken freaks at places like whole foods. The only solution is to know your chicken farmer or raise em yourself.

I don't trust it.. I don't like it. And since it's come out I have an aversion to 'white meat' and all things chicken.

[amazona]

86. head in hands -- look, is a St. Bernard a freak?

We raise giant breeds of dogs created by selective breeding.

What's wrong with doing the same with chickens? There are many interesting breeds, not just the superchickens. You have the superchickens in your whole food store because, guess what, they are whole food.

I apologize for getting a bit snappish but with all the real problems in the industry from smell to "enhancing" the product with added salt water...when we accuse the industry of doing things it ISN'T doing, we make ourselves silly, and get written off as not being worth listening to.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[okasha]

110. Yes, and those giant breeds

of dogs are all geriatric at 7 and run high risks of hip dysplasia and other genetic abnormalities.

BTW, aren't you the same person who was so upset at the poster who shot at an owl to protect his pets a few weeks ago? But it's okay to torture chickens or to produce abnormalities that cause them suffering? Bit selective there, aren't we?

[livinginphotographs]

78. Good for Sharpton, and fuck KFC.

With that said, let the oh-so-predictable Tasty Animals jokes begin, from the poor, persecuted DU Meat-Eater Flamebait patrol. :eyes:

[smoogatz]

90. The only good chicken...

...is a fried chicken. Or a roasted, stewed, baked, fricasseed, gumboed or rotisseried chicken. They are bad-tempered, dirty, stupid animals that a wise and generous God put on this planet for larger, smarter species to eat. That said, I could do without the added hormones. But do I care if they're happy when they die? Nein.

[livinginphotographs]

95. Newflash: God doesn't exist.

Neither does Santa Claus. So using God as an excuse for cruelty is pretty stupid, IMO.

And I have seen little examples of humans acting smarter. Of course, there's probably no point in arguing this with you.

But one last question: remember when your argument was used to enslave blacks? Is that acceptable to you, because GAWWWWD said so?

on edit: The only good freeper is a tombstoned one. Enjoy your stay.

[smoogatz]

97. Lordy

So... you're suggesting that because I enjoy the occasional chicken-leg, I'm somehow a racist? Does your head rattle when you shake it?

[livinginphotographs]

98. No I'm suggesting that using God as an excuse for cruelty

is pretty stupid. It's the same arguments the slaveowners used, and that the fundies are using to resist gay marriage. So you're going to have to do better than that.

[smoogatz]

100. They're CHICKENS

not people. A different--albeit delicious--species. Suggesting that a benevolent God put them on earth for us to stir-fry with a little garlic, ginger and some snow peas is hardly the same as using the Bible to justify bigotry. To settle a bet, what's your hat-size--about a four-and-a-half?

[livinginphotographs]

101. Since you're new here...

I'll cut you some slack. Personal attacks (even cute, sly ones like the one you posted above) are forbidden on DU. I won't alert you, because I don't do that, but calling someone stupid because they disagree with you is a pretty weak form of debate.

And posting in all caps doesn't make your point anymore valid. :eyes: Thanks for avoiding the issue.

[smoogatz]

103. Hey, it's the correctness police.

Thanks so much for not reporting me. I was really, really scared there for a minute.

A tad on the self-righteous side, are we?

I'm still waiting to hear how the chicken salad I ate for lunch is evidence of homophobia.

[livinginphotographs]

104. Are you being deliberately obtuse?

I'm not being self-righteous by saying that calling me stupid is not a valid form of debate, it's just childish. If you have a point, you might want to actually back it up with something a little more credible than the bible. (of course, I'd like to see which passage condones torturing animals)

You defended the moral implications of torturing chickens by saying that God says it's okay. Then you refuse to see the connection to all the other horrible things God's word has been used to excuse.

But since you want to play this way, what was your hat size again?

[smoogatz]

105. By self-righteous, I meant

You take yourself mighty seriously. And you have a lot of advice for your fellow posters.

You might want to reread my initial post, by the way--you're putting words in my mouth. I didn't say anything about the Bible, or any alleged utterance of God's.

[livinginphotographs]

106. You said, and I quote:

"They are bad-tempered, dirty, stupid animals that a wise and generous God put on this planet for larger, smarter species to eat."

Got any proof that your God put them on this planet simply for us to eat?

[Redstone]

99. You should care if they're happy when they die, because

they taste better when they don't have that flood of Fear Hormones before they get whacked (that's also the advantage of the "feel no pain when killed" aspect of Jewish Kosher law when applied to any animal).

By the way, they're not all bad-tempered, dirty, and stupid. I'll grant that the ones we raised when I was a kid were certainly all of that, and boy was I happy one winter morning when I went out to feed them at 25 below zero and they'd all frozen during the night before.

But my kid has a pet Rhode Island Red we got for fresh eggs (rather than for the curry pot), and she's a riot; even sits on his lap when he goes on his swing. I'd not have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself either.

All this, of course, being just my opinion; anyone has others, they're welcome to them. But no whining, please.

Redstone

[smoogatz]

102. Now THAT makes sense. n/t

[Mojorabbit]

107. Actually

I have a pet chicken. She is not stupid and she is good natured.

[Jack_DeLeon]

96. This sounds like a joke...

but the link doesnt go to theonion.

[XemaSab]

109. God bless Rev. Sharpton

Cruelty is cruelty, regardless of the species.

I'm not opposed to all eating of animals, but factory farming reduces a living, feeling creature to absolutely nothing, and there's no excuse for that.

I *highly* recommend the book "Dominion" by Matthew Scully to any and all. He's a republican, but he articulates our responsibility to be kind to animals very well. Seriously, it's a really good book and it's much less dogmatic than Singer. Scully crafts his ethical argument with great care, using examples to bolster his thesis.

Finally, Americans eat WAY too much animal protein. Eating veggies is cheap and healthy. Try it sometime. :-)

[Merope215]

112. "Dominion" is terrific!

I'm so glad someone else here has read it. You wouldn't think one of *'s speechwriters would have any compassion for humans, much less animals, but it's a deeply sincere, coherently argued, and eloquently written book. Like you said, *much* less dogmatic than the animal rights/animal liberation writers, allowing for compromise but calling cruelty and selfishness what they are.

And veggies are cheap and healthy, but they also let you eat with a quiet conscience, at least as quiet as anyone's conscience can get these days.