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MSNBC.com
Friday, May 27, 2005
Tyson Foods Accused of Cruelty to Chickens
By Karen Davis
Thank you for your article about the undercover investigation [by PETA] at a Tyson slaughterhouse which documented workers maliciously stomping on and mutilating chickens. Many of these chickens end up in restaurants like KFC or in your local grocery store.
Modern methods of raising chickens are appalling. Chickens are increasingly locked up in dark “tunnel” houses where they hobble and sit in pain and filth on crippled legs. I’ve been inside many chicken houses on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia and cannot overstate the misery and unwholesomeness in every piece of chicken.
I have also rescued many chickens over the years, and have come to love them for their sweetness and affection and for their strong spirits. Most food-industry chickens are ill and lame from the time they are born. Even so, when rescued, they relish fresh air, sunlight and grass – they eat tons of grass. Most important, these chickens respond to kindness. The greatest kindness to chickens is not to eat them. – Karen Davis, President, United Poultry Concerns
ISSUE: A recent 10-week undercover PETA investigation of a Tyson Foods slaughterhouse in Heflin, Alabama found workers ripping conscious chickens’ heads off, slaughter machinery systematically mutilating chickens, and thousands of birds were entering the scalding tank completely conscious and being scalded to death. For the whole story visit www.TorturedByTyson.com.
WHAT CAN I DO ?
Contact Tyson Foods and Demand that Tyson Switch to Controlled Atmosphere Killing (CAK) in the transport crates so chickens will be dead before entering the slaughterhouses. CAK enables chickens to die via argon and/or nitrogen gases instead of being tortured with electric shocks, neck cutting, worker abuse, and machinery malfunction as is now the case.
In the current system, chickens are intentionally kept alive through the slaughter process. In addition, every undercover investigation reveals sadistic torture of chickens by employees. Urge Tyson that chickens be allowed to die before entering the slaughterhouse. Please forward your Tyson letter to KFC, McDonald’s, and the National Chicken Council (see addresses below) and share your concerns about the torture and suffering of chickens with the newsmedia. CONTACT:
John Tyson, CEO
Tyson Foods, Inc.
PO Box 2020
Springdale, AR 72765
Call: 479-290-4000
Hotline: 800-643-3410
Fax: 479-290-3923
Email: John.Tyson@Tyson.com
James A. Skinner, CEO
McDonald’s Corporation
McDonald’s Plaza
Oak Park, IL 60523
Call: 630-623-3000
Fax: 630-623-5004
David Novak, CEO
KFC-Yum! Brands
1441 Gardiner Lane
Louisville, KY 40213
Call: 502-874-8300
Fax: 502-874-9291
Hotline: 800-225-5532
George Watts, CEO
National Chicken Council
1015 15 th St. NW, Suite 930
Washington DC 20005
Call: 202-296-2622
Fax: 202-293-4005
Email: Gwatts@ChickenUSA.org
United Poultry Concerns, Inc.
PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405-0150
757-678-7875
FAX: 757-678-5070
www.upc-online.org
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