PETA is peeved at Wie
PETA Calls On Michelle Wie to Stick Up for ‘Birdies’
“While you’re making birdies on the golf course, please consider speaking up for the birds who are scalded to death for McNuggets,” opens PETA’s letter to pro golfer and McDonald’s spokesperson Michelle Wie.
PETA sent the letter to Wie this morning asking her to use her unique position to urge the fast-food giant to adopt a less cruel slaughter method for the millions of chickens who are killed for its restaurants. In the letter, PETA points out that the alternative method spares chickens from suffering broken bones and being scalded to death and is already being used by some of McDonald’s European suppliers. PETA’s request comes two days before the Ladies Professional Golf Association Championship in which Wie is scheduled to participate.
“Michelle has one of the sweetest strokes in golf, but when it comes to her decision to partner with McDonald’s, she’s landed in the rough,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “We hope that she can help eliminate McDonald’s cruel slaughter methods and be a champion not only on the golf course but also for chickens.”
McDonald’s American suppliers are under fire for using an archaic killing method in which birds often suffer from broken wings and broken legs, have their throats cut while they are still conscious, and are scalded to death in defeathering tanks. PETA–along with members of McDonald’s own animal welfare advisory panel–has urged the company to switch to a modern method of slaughter and eliminate the worst abuses that birds suffer.
For more information, please visit PETA’s Web site McCruelty.com.
PETA’s letter to Michelle Wie follows.
June 22, 2010
Michelle Wie
Dear Michelle,
While you’re making birdies on the golf course, please consider speaking up for the birds who are scalded to death for McNuggets. Your sponsor, McDonald’s, still allows its U.S. suppliers to cut chickens’ throats while they are conscious and even to scald birds to death in defeathering tanks. Will you use your unique position with the company to urge it to adopt the less cruel chicken-slaughter technology that’s already in use in Europe?
As you can see at McCruelty.com, we’ve been pushing McDonald’s to phase in the purchase of chicken from suppliers that use the less cruel slaughter method that is already used by McDonald’s European operations. This method renders chickens unconscious while they are still in their transport crates, sparing birds the pain of live shackling and mutilation. As the leading purchaser of chicken in the U.S., McDonald’s has the ability–and the market power–to make this method the industry standard for chicken slaughter, yet the company refuses to require its suppliers to make this common-sense switch.
A letter from you would surely resonate with McDonald’s executives, and we’d be happy to draft it. Thanks for considering this–you could make a huge difference. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Michelle Cho
Special Projects Manager