To those millions of Americans who scarf down more than 100 million fried chickens a year at Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald's and other quickie joints, not too many think about how the late chickens, when alive, were raised and eventually slaughtered. Does the fisherman ever feel for the trout who dies as the hook is yanked out of its mouth. Does the hunter feel for the beautiful stag when he shoots and mounts it on his wall? Does the politician feel for the young people he sends into the slaughter of war ... but that's a whole 'nother subject.

PETA's Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign (KentuckyFriedCruelty.com) is an attempt to inform the public of the agonizing lives and deaths endured by chickens raised for the fast food chain. It wants breeders to give the chickens more room in their crowded pens, cleaner conditions, more healthful food, and when execution time arrives, a swift and painless death. Of course, as every PETA advocate knows, the real intent of the organization is to eventually end the killing of any animals for food, clothing or any other reasons. We can be sure the KFC barnyard war is just the first battle for them. So, don't expect to see a let-up in their overall campaign strategies.

Officially, KFC has taken PETA advice, or more likely, the threats of bad publicity. Two years ago created a watchdog panel of doctors and scientists, called the Animal Welfare Advisory Council. The learned group visited chicken-raising facilities, fast-food restaurants, then made a bunch of suggestions on cutting back on some of the most egregious cruelties to the chickens. However, after less than a year, veterinarian members of AWAC quit and told the press they opted out because they were being ignored.

The intentions of the learned scientists were honorable, of course, and they are right to feel ignored by the company that asked for their opinions in the first place. However, in retrospect, what else could they expect from a multi-billion-dollar business that cares a hell of lot more for the bottom line than whether chickens live fulfilled lives before they fill the stomach?

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
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