A singing “chicken” visited the McDonald’s headquarters in Chicago this week, delivering the message that the fast food giant needs to stop the gruesome cruelty to the animals in its supply chain.
The singing telegram was delivered by a vocalist in chicken costume from animal advocacy organization Compassion Over Killing (COK), who have been targeting the company this year alongside a coalition of organizations including Animal Equality, The Humane League, and Mercy for Animals.
“While McDonald’s focuses on its fast-food profits, it’s allowing unnaturally fast growth to cripple hundreds of millions of birds in its supply chain,” said Laura Cascada, director of corporate outreach for COK.
In March, the coalition published an open letter to McDonald’s in the New York Times, highlighting the horrific factory farm practices of overcrowding and abnormal growth rates and urging the worldwide conglomerate to address these issues in their policies.
“If a human baby grew in the same way, they’d be 660 pounds at just two months old,” stated the letter.
More recently, a giant digital billboard was launched in Times Square, exposing the torture inflicted on birds by Mcdonald’s suppliers. The ad will continue to play 60 times a day until October 31st.
With McDonald’s sourcing hundreds of millions of chickens every year for their products, they have enormous power to make massive change in the industry.
The coalition is asking for natural growth rates, more space for the chickens, better housing conditions and the chance for the birds to exhibit natural behaviors.
“There’s a lot of sadness behind each Happy Meal,” said Cascada. “Right now, McDonald’s has the chance not only to address the suffering of animals raised for its menu but also to get in on a sizzling meatless market by serving up a vegan option.”
More than 90 companies, including Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, Subway, and Starbucks have already committed to addressing these issues. COK plan to continue their protests until McDonald’s take action to stop the cruelty.
