Major Victory for Animals: KFC Campaign

I have great news! Thanks to the help of PETA's more than 2 million members and supporters, we've just scored a major victory for chickens killed by fast-food chain KFC.

Following more than five years of intense campaigning, numerous undercover investigations, and over 12,000 demonstrations against KFC around the world, I'm happy to announce that KFC Canada will be making sweeping changes to the ways it raises and kills chickens slaughtered for its restaurants. KFC Canada agreed to this historic new animal welfare plan following seven months of closed-door negotiations with PETA. With today's announcement, the company plans to do the following:

-Phase in purchases of 100 percent of its chickens from suppliers that use controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK)—the least cruel form of poultry slaughter ever developed. KFC Canada is the first major restaurant chain to commit to phasing in the exclusive purchasing of chicken meat from CAK slaughterhouses.

-Make a vegan faux-chicken item available at the majority of KFC restaurants in Canada.

-Improve its animal welfare criteria to reduce the number of broken bones and other injuries suffered by birds.

-Urge its suppliers to adopt better practices, including improved lighting, lower stocking density and ammonia levels, and a phaseout of growth-promoting drugs and breeding practices that painfully cripple chickens.

-Form an animal welfare advisory panel to monitor the changes and recommend further advancements.

However, outside Canada, KFC has yet to stop the worst abuses of chickens. We are now focusing on using this momentum to force KFC—both in the United States and around the world—to meet the new standards set by KFC Canada. By making an urgent donation today, you can help our campaign work to spread these improvements for animals to all of KFC's stores worldwide.

In short, PETA's KFC campaign is far from over. We will continue to pressure KFC to stop the worst abuses of chickens, like scalding birds to death, slitting their throats while they're still conscious, and drugging and breeding them to grow so large that they cripple beneath their own weight.

Please write to KFC in the U.S. using its on-line comment form urging it to make the same changes worldwide that KFC Canada has made. Please also take a moment to e-mail info@priszm.com (KFC Canada's parent company) and thank them for raising the bar on animal welfare.

P.S. There are still tens of millions of chickens who are routinely raised and slaughtered by KFC in the United States and other countries each year; they suffer through the same conditions that are no longer tolerated by KFC Canada. By making a much-needed donation today, you can help us fight and win better lives for all chickens killed for KFC worldwide.

Jan Ashlee

Updates recieved from Ms. Ingrid Newkirk

PETA President

PETA 501 Front St.,

Norfolk, VA 23510

United States