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For Immediate Release:
August 19, 2003
Contact:
Anuradha Sawhney (0) 98201 22602; AnuradhaS@peta.org
Bangalore – Traffic will grind to a halt when
a giant crippled ‘chicken’ hobbles across the road in front
of KFC restaurant, while People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’
(PETA) activists hand out leaflets to protest the abusive treatment
of chickens served to customers by KFC.
Why is the ‘chicken’ crippled? Millions of chickens lead
a miserable life and meet a frightening death at the hands of KFC’s
factory-farming suppliers worldwide. Parent chickens are de-beaked without
pain killers. Chickens routinely suffer broken bones from being bred
to be top-heavy, from callous handling – workers roughly grab
birds by their legs and slam them into crates – and from being
roughly shackled upside-down by their legs in abattoirs. The animals
are often still fully conscious and scared out of their wits as their
throats are cut by hand or machine, and many are scalded alive when
they are dumped into tanks of hot water to remove their feathers.
Date: Tuesday, 19 August 2003
Time: 12 noon sharp
Place: KFC, 4 Brigade Rd, Bangalore
The PETA India protest is part of an international campaign launched
by PETA after nearly two years of failed negotiations with KFC’s
US parent company, Yum! Brands, which has obstinately refused to implement
reforms. On the anniversary of the Quit India Movement, PETA India wrote
to Mr. Sandeep Kohli, MD, of Yum! Brands International, asking the company
to close down the only remaining Indian KFC outlet, located in Bangalore,
and quit India. The campaign follows victories over McDonald’s,
Burger King and Wendy’s – all of which bowed to PETA pressure
to reduce the cruel treatment of animals raised and slaughtered for
food.
The protest has rallied local support from animal-welfare organisations
like Animal Rights Fund, Anti Species Trust, and KRUPA, which have all
joined hands with PETA.
PETA India is encouraging diners to adopt a compassionate diet or, at
least, boycott KFC. Chicken consumption is linked to obesity, diabetes,
heart disease, strokes and several types of cancer. Chicken is often
loaded with bacteria, including E. coli, salmonella and campylobacter,
and its consumption is also linked with the SARS virus and other pathogens.
‘Sixty one years ago, our leaders gave a clarion call to protest
against exploitation, and today, we are repeating that cry in our determination
to see the KFC chicken abusers quit India’, says PETA India Special
Projects Coordinator Bijal Vachharajani. ‘The message is clear,
KFC: Quit India.’
For more information, please visit www.KFCCruelty.com.
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