# PETA vs KFC



## jock (Dec 4, 2001)

Did anybody see that "hidden camera" expose by PETA at a chicken farm that supplies KFC?

I know there aren't many PETA fans on this site - me included. But I gotta say, that was just gratuitous cruelty to the point of being criminal. I'd like to believe that is an extreme and isolated case. Naive? Probably.

Jock


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## yaten (Jul 22, 2004)

PETA? *P*eople for the *E*ating of *T*asty *A*nimals?

Just kidding, I know who they are... and agree with it being gratuitous cruelty, though I'm not sure there is much one could do. While the things done at that chicken farm have proven to be rather horrible, it is doubtful that any criminal charges would hold up in court against such things. While treating animals well is something I can understand being important, is it still important to act so ethical today when the animal is just going to have its head chopped off tomorrow? It's something to think about.

As for whether it is an estreme and isolated case. Doubtful.


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## miahoyhoy (Jul 23, 2002)

Is there a link to it somewhere?

Chicken farms, comercial ones, are infamous for there treatment of fowl.
One more reason I don't go to fast food joints and only by local organic chicken.


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## yaten (Jul 22, 2004)

if you go to www.google.com and search for "PETA" along with "KFC" you'll get lots of articles about it. I've read a few now and they're really quite interesting.


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## jock (Dec 4, 2001)

I saw it on the news the other day. I know that battery hens have it tough and other animal mass production facilities have questionable methods but this was different.
At the risk of grossing people out, the workers would stomp on the live birds to watch them burst open. They kicked them around like footballs and threw them against walls. It doesn't matter that they are to be slaughtered and eaten. That kind of treatment is simply wrong. 

Jock


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## nick.shu (Jul 18, 2000)

nope that behaviour is unethical and might i add, the sign of a low paid and bored workplace.

there is no reason for this sort of treatment of animals.

My belief in this situation is that if we subordinate animals for food, then we owe them a "duty of care" (in lack of a finer phrase) to care for them and to slaughter them humanely.

by treating such animals as poorly as this, it increases the negatives impacts, such as bad PR, reduced demand so forth. Ultimately, it decreases the commodities worth through poor quality.

But the reason this is occurring is purely economic.


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

Pilgrim's Pride is owned by Bo Pilgrim. He's the top individual contributer to the Republican party. He controls NE Texas. He does whatever he wants in NE Texas because the Texas legislature's salary is paid by Bo. He's a jerk, continually violates immigration laws, and treats the town of Mt. Pleasant like his personal dump.


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

surprise, surprise.


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## chefboy2160 (Oct 13, 2001)

The ethics of a human being are held so much more accountable with our easy global communications.If the under paid workers act this way in there work place because of poor wages,lack of translation or whatever it is wrong,
but who else do they lash out upon?Education is the key to success but it is not going to happen in these processing plants until we have a better way of treating our employees and our Spanish speaking help! I am sure that Pres.Bush , being from Texas and living his whole life mostly around the hispanic help can find a good solution to this problem of living rich off of the backs of the poor!(yeah right)
The behavior in the processing plant is wrong but it happens in these large scale ,unsupervised plants.
I feel sorry as a human being to be a part of this behavior as a consumer.
What can we do? Doug..................


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## nick.shu (Jul 18, 2000)

CB, i understand what you are saying. In my honest opinion the symptom of animal mistreatment is based upon purely the job and not on the ethnicity of the employees.

obviously the problem is endemic - there are instances of the processes documented on the net within australia (victoria and new south wales).

i think being part of the supply chain, such treatment of fowl is indeed distressing. to a certain extent i feel responsible as both a user and consumer. it may not occur to the chickens that i personally use, but then how do i know?.

like i said previously, we owe animals a certain "duty of care", especially those who give us a source of food as a matter of respect. If we do not respect these animals, we end up with such things as vCJD, food poisoning, salmonella etc.

if we think that food animals are simply just objects without any impact on the end consumers, we are in for a rude shock.


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## chefalexander (Jun 11, 2004)

I don't neccesarily think the problem is the job, so much as the 'quality' of the person doing it. No matter what your profession, or education, we are all stewards of the world around us. We should treat everything with the proper respect, especially those things and creatures upon which we depend upon to survive; because without them we won't. Some people are just, for lack of a better term, a waste of flesh. Trust me, I have no love for PETA--I put them in the same facist category as the ACLU, but hopefully, this story and video will help educate others of that ilk to move beyond their baser existance and join the human race  .


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## nick.shu (Jul 18, 2000)

chefalexander - you are right. It is not a reflection of the "job" rather than the quality of the person performing it. I have worked in abbatoirs and have seen first hand the *potential effect* on people such a job can have. The people i saw where i worked were exemplary people doing an extraordinary job.

it is in no certain terms that the quality of the worker on the job remains in the province of education. by devaluing the commodity, animal or whatever, you will always find that the respect given to the animal/commodity will always be eroded, and as a result, the animal will be mistreated.

However, you will find that, a lack of respect given to the people that perform this function, will filter down into behaviour that degrades the "value chain". Couple this with policies and procedures that fails to discourage such behaviour, and you will find yourself entering into an perpetual cycle.


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## leethequeen (Mar 13, 2002)

I think it goes all the way up the chain to top management and their attitude to the workers under them. If people are well treated with respect shown for their jobs and how they do them you do not get his kind of behavior. I think these actions show frustration and anger at the company they work for rather than a lack of education or a concern for animal rights. Where were the supervisors and quality control people when this was going on? 
I also question if this was set up by PETA and if it really was/is an ongoing practice with the workers for that company.


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

I've seen and heard about atrosities in CAFO's. A few years ago the Gov. asked me to be on the Dept of Ag Task Force.....I got to hear testimony across the state that would make your hair curl. 
Animals treated as commodities, instead of living beings.
Even if PETA did a set up tape, there are horrid examples of abuse in other confinment operations.
I'm a meat eater that knows where my food comes from.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Tyson is and was the same in Arkansas under Clinton. Both mainstream parties are bought and paid for.

Phil


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

In 2002 Bo Pilgrim contributed $701,853 to Republicans and $57,000 to Democrats. 

Tyson's PAC gave $97,860 to Republicans as of June 2004. Democrats got $29,901. Sure, both parties are paid for. The Republican party just charges more for services. I gues you get what you pay for. (multiple entendre intended)


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## nick.shu (Jul 18, 2000)

oh man, ive been drawn into an argument with someone over this topic.

however, some very reasonable calls have been made.

How do we know, that we arent using the same chickens that are destined for the KFC deep fryers?

i mean are you absolutely sure that you arent receiving the same same stock?

Its just the potential/possibility remains that producers would apply the same growing procedures to the rest of their stock (given the yields) in order to maximise their profits.


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## mikeb (Jun 29, 2004)

Just as disturbing is how veal calves are treated (usually in very poor health, kept alive by drugs), and Geese for fois gras (force fed with a tube to increase the size of their liver - it grows to around 6-10 times its normal size... very painful for the animal). Mass production techniques for farm animals can be quite disturbing...


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