Moldy Peaches

Kentucky Fried Chicken, PFK in French, is coming under fire from various celebrites for their treatment of chickens. Pamela Anderson, Bea Arthur (from Golden Girl fame)and Jason Alexander, not the former Mr.Britney Spears - but George from Seinfeld, are among those speaking out on the way in which KFC processes chicken. These inidividuals are taking the cause on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

PETA is asking KFC to eliminate the worst abuses that chickens suffer on the factory farms and in the slaughterhouses of its suppliers, including live scalding, life-long crippling, and painful debeaking.

PETA claims the more than 850 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.

In May 2001, KFC’s parent company, Yum! Brands, assured PETA that it intended to “raise the bar” on animal welfare, but to date, KFC has done nothing to address the most egregious animal cruelty in the chicken industry.



In fact, Pamela Anderson has engaged in a nasty letter writing exchange with KFC Canadian frontman John Bitove, he of the failed 2008 Toronto Olympic bid and one-time Rapter owener.

Anderson's first letter:

October 15, 2003

John Bitove, Chair
priszm brandz
101 Exchange Ave.
Vaughan, ON L4K 5R6

1 page via fax: 416-650-1763

Dear Mr. Bitove:

I am shocked to learn from my pals at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) that KFC has refused to take steps to eliminate some of the worst abuses suffered by the hundreds of millions of chickens who are killed for your restaurants in Canada, in the U.S., and overseas. If people knew how KFC treats chickens, they’d never eat another drumstick.

Please face the facts: KFC is torturing birds and then trying to pretend that there is nothing wrong with that. In the 21st century, we’re advanced enough to oppose all cruelty and injustice, whether the victims are animals or people.

I am asking that you direct KFC’s suppliers to stop breeding and drugging animals so that they become crippled under their own hefty bulk, that you ensure that KFC’s suppliers stop scalding birds to death, and that you adopt the other key improvements that PETA has recommended (see KentuckyFriedCruelty.com), which are all based on the work of members of your own apparently powerless and long-ignored “animal-welfare panel.”

What KFC does to 750 million chickens each year is not civilized or acceptable, and you can help change that. Cruelty is cruelty, and KFC is being cruel in the extreme.
I am calling for a boycott of all KFC restaurants until my friends at PETA tell me that you have agreed to be kinder in your practices.

Sincerely,
Pamela Anderson

Bitove's response:

Pamela Anderson
C/O Marleah Leslie & Associates
8370 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 210
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
USA

May 2, 2005

Dear Ms. Anderson,

Thank you for your letters and your interest in KFC Canada. As a fellow Canadian, it is terrific to see you take such a wholehearted interest in our operations. You have obviously put a great deal of thought, time and energy into your advocacy campaign. But I must tell you, Pamela, you are counting your chickens before they hatch.
I am sorry to say, the sky isn’t falling! Let me equip you with the real facts so that you can make an educated decision and correct all of the inaccuracies you’re spreading throughout our country.

Did you know we buy our chickens from the same places that sell to our grocery stores and other restaurants in Canada? Did you know chicken sales are negotiated by our federal and provincial governments? Did you know, that unlike most other restaurant and grocery chains, we actually regularly and randomly audit our suppliers to augment government oversight and better ensure that chickens are treated ethically?

To help educate you more, I would like to invite you to have lunch with me anywhere, anytime, at your convenience, even in Beverly Hills if you like. I will host you at a restaurant of your choosing. My preference, of course, would be a KFC restaurant. You can enjoy one of the yummy Southern Peach Salads we are introducing this summer.
Pamela, the facts are “Stacked” against you. I anxiously await your response and look forward to setting up a time for us to meet so that I can be certain you are kept fully abreast of our ethical practices.

Sincerely,
John I. Bitove
Chairman and CEO
Priszm Canadian Income Fund (operator of 481 KFC restaurants in Canada)

CC: media

Jason Alexander, a one-time spokesperson for the outlet, has done a complete 180 degrees and joined the chorus of celebrities calling for KFC to shape up.