Group to Demonstrate How Birds Killed for McDonald's Restaurants Are Scalded to Death
For Immediate Release:
April 25, 2011
Contact:
Ashley Gonzalez 202-483-7382
Gainesville, Fla. -- Wearing nothing but red bikinis and bodypaint to illustrate what happens to chickens when they are scalded to death in defeathering tanks, PETA members will convene outside a Gainesville McDonald's restaurant to protest the abuse that chickens suffer in slaughterhouses that supply the fast-food chain. Other PETA members will hold signs reading, "McCruelty: i'm hatin' it."
When: Tuesday, April 26, 12 noon
Where: 6003 W. Newberry Rd., Gainesville
Because electric stun tanks in U.S. slaughterhouses administer only a fraction of the voltage needed to render chickens insensible to pain, birds who are paralyzed by the tanks are usually still conscious when their throats are cut. Government studies show that birds feel pain after being shocked, even if they can't move. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, millions of birds—who are still conscious and able to feel pain—are immersed in the scalding-hot water of defeathering tanks every year.
"We're heating things up to help customers see exactly how coldhearted McDonald's is when it comes to chickens," says PETA's Tracy Patton. "People will flock to other restaurants when they learn that McDonald's is too cheap to make basic changes that would prevent birds from being scalded to death."
For more information, please visit McCruelty.com.