Post by Jodi on Apr 18, 2005 11:15:55 GMT -5
Group braves sprinkler system to spread message of chicken treatment
By Gilberto Salinas
The Brownsville Herald
April 14, 2005 — Why did the chicken cross the road?
Well, it depends who you ask in Brownsville.
A protesting trio from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), one of which was dressed in a chicken outfit, stood their ground Wednesday at The Chicken Stop as they briefly protested next to the local eatery. Then they crossed Boca Chica Boulevard to picket the nearby KFC for the restaurant suppliers’ treatment of chickens.
But if you ask the manager for the KFC, the chicken crossed in search of water.
“They already hit me in McAllen,” said John Olivo, shortly before cranking KFC’s sprinkler system at full blast and soaking the curbside protestors.
“I was already waiting for them here in Brownsville,” he laughed.
The PETA members were also greeted by David Ingersoll, a Los Fresnos beef-eating supporter who showed up with his children to antagonize their protest.
When the chicken crossed the boulevard, he followed.
Armed with a microphone and a hand-held speaker, Ingersoll shot strait at the chicken protestors and outspoke them at one of the busiest intersections in the city in the middle of a hot South Texas afternoon.
“You bunch of crazy animal rights nuts!” he shouted. “You’re not going to win. Not in Brownsville!”
His two step-children hurriedly passed out anti-PETA pamphlets to drivers stopping at the intersection.
“I’m waiting for someone to throw a cabrito head at them so they know what part of the country they are in,” Ingersoll said.
The protesters were then greeted by high school students yelling insults from their school bus windows.
“Who’s your chicken daddy?” one student yelled as he and others stuck their heads outside the bus and screamed.
Despite the rude welcome, the PETA members remained outside the KFC to spread their message.
“It hasn’t been quite like this in other parts of the state,” said Chris Link, PETA’s campaign coordinator who is traveling to protest KFC in 12 Texas cities.
The group also protested in McAllen on Wednesday but did not receive the same harsh treatment, he said.
“It’s a rarity that we get this,” he said after the mid-afternoon dousing outside KFC.
The protests are part of an international campaign to get KFC to put pressure on slaughter houses, which are inhumanely killing the chickens, according to claims by PETA.
The campaign thickened after talks between PETA and KFC corporate officials fell through in March.
So as part of a national tour, Brownsville was placed on the PETA map.
“We’re out here today to raise awareness about the chickens,” said Link, a Baltimore native. “All we want them (slaughter houses) to do is gas the chickens instead of killing them.”
PETA suggests a “controlled-atmosphere” killing, using gases such as nitrogen and argon to kill the chickens.
The gas chambers would ensure a painless death for the birds, PETA reported in its Web site. Slaughter houses currently use an electrical stun method or cut off the birds’ heads.
In a previous story, KFC spokeswoman Bonnie Warschauer told The Associated Press that "we don’t comment on the corporate terrorist activities of PETA. They are corporate terrorists and just like the United States government, we will not negotiate with corporate terrorists."
Ingersoll said he hopes KFC stands firm against PETA’s demands.
“I don’t know about you, but I want my chicken to be cut in the throat, hung upside down and bled to death,” Ingersoll said. “I don’t want no chicken that has been gassed. Chickens are not gassed in the farm.”
Olivo also was not sympathetic toward the activists. He accused them of taking away his way of life.
“As far as I’m concerned, they are terrorists. I’m trying to make a living and they are trying to stop my people from making a living,” he said just before cranking the water system at full blast, showering the protesters.
“To me, there is no difference between them and al-Qaida.”
Link was accompanied by Chris Arellano, an Uvalde native, who was holding a television showing the slaughter of chickens.
Eric Deardorff, the man inside the chicken suit, was at the receiving end of most of the obscene comments at the intersection.
Link said awareness is vital to PETA’s goal in stopping cruelty to animals. The organization’s reason for pressuring KFC is because the company is the nation’s largest buyer of chicken. The restaurant chain, therefore, has the power to change the way slaughter houses kill the chickens.
“Almost all (PETA’s) money goes directly to fund animals,” Link said. “Every dime goes directly to helping animals whether it’s through demonstrations (or) to raise awareness.”
Olivo said the campaign is hypocrisy. “I’m sure they secretly eat their hamburgers,” he said.
gsalinas@brownsvilleherald.com
www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_more.php?id=64646_0_10_0_M36
********************************************
Simmons tries to smooth
PETA, KFC feathers
By Jeannette Walls
MSNBC
Updated: 2:40 a.m. ET April 11, 2005Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, known for brokering peace talks between feuding rappers, has been at the center of secret negotiations between KFC and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — says a source — but it looks like some feathers might still be ruffled.
KFC, which PETA has been pressuring to stop scalding live birds in the defeathering tank, among other practices, had refused to meet with the animal-rights group for years. Then Reverend Al Sharpton narrated a grisly PETA video exposé on the fast-food chain, which was screened for horrified customers outside innercity KFCs across the country this winter. Fearful of losing their urban market, KFC shuttled their COO and other execs to New York for meetings with longtime PETA advisor Simmons and Sharpton’s reps, in exchange for a moratorium on public screenings of the Sharpton KFC video, according to the source.
“Russell and the Rev reiterated PETA’s goal — that KFC merely follow the advice of their own humane advisory board and phase out cruelties such as forced rapid growth, which causes crippling leg deformities,” an insider tells The Scoop. “KFC countered that their humane board had almost no changes to suggest.” But PETA is saying that KFC misrepresented the claims of its own advisors.
Spokesmen for PETA and KFC couldn’t be reached for comment, but if a truce isn’t reached, says the source, PETA will relaunch KentuckyFriedCruelty.com, and revive not only Rev Sharpton’s video but will also run a blistering new commercial — starring Simmons himself.
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7434045/
By Gilberto Salinas
The Brownsville Herald
April 14, 2005 — Why did the chicken cross the road?
Well, it depends who you ask in Brownsville.
A protesting trio from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), one of which was dressed in a chicken outfit, stood their ground Wednesday at The Chicken Stop as they briefly protested next to the local eatery. Then they crossed Boca Chica Boulevard to picket the nearby KFC for the restaurant suppliers’ treatment of chickens.
But if you ask the manager for the KFC, the chicken crossed in search of water.
“They already hit me in McAllen,” said John Olivo, shortly before cranking KFC’s sprinkler system at full blast and soaking the curbside protestors.
“I was already waiting for them here in Brownsville,” he laughed.
The PETA members were also greeted by David Ingersoll, a Los Fresnos beef-eating supporter who showed up with his children to antagonize their protest.
When the chicken crossed the boulevard, he followed.
Armed with a microphone and a hand-held speaker, Ingersoll shot strait at the chicken protestors and outspoke them at one of the busiest intersections in the city in the middle of a hot South Texas afternoon.
“You bunch of crazy animal rights nuts!” he shouted. “You’re not going to win. Not in Brownsville!”
His two step-children hurriedly passed out anti-PETA pamphlets to drivers stopping at the intersection.
“I’m waiting for someone to throw a cabrito head at them so they know what part of the country they are in,” Ingersoll said.
The protesters were then greeted by high school students yelling insults from their school bus windows.
“Who’s your chicken daddy?” one student yelled as he and others stuck their heads outside the bus and screamed.
Despite the rude welcome, the PETA members remained outside the KFC to spread their message.
“It hasn’t been quite like this in other parts of the state,” said Chris Link, PETA’s campaign coordinator who is traveling to protest KFC in 12 Texas cities.
The group also protested in McAllen on Wednesday but did not receive the same harsh treatment, he said.
“It’s a rarity that we get this,” he said after the mid-afternoon dousing outside KFC.
The protests are part of an international campaign to get KFC to put pressure on slaughter houses, which are inhumanely killing the chickens, according to claims by PETA.
The campaign thickened after talks between PETA and KFC corporate officials fell through in March.
So as part of a national tour, Brownsville was placed on the PETA map.
“We’re out here today to raise awareness about the chickens,” said Link, a Baltimore native. “All we want them (slaughter houses) to do is gas the chickens instead of killing them.”
PETA suggests a “controlled-atmosphere” killing, using gases such as nitrogen and argon to kill the chickens.
The gas chambers would ensure a painless death for the birds, PETA reported in its Web site. Slaughter houses currently use an electrical stun method or cut off the birds’ heads.
In a previous story, KFC spokeswoman Bonnie Warschauer told The Associated Press that "we don’t comment on the corporate terrorist activities of PETA. They are corporate terrorists and just like the United States government, we will not negotiate with corporate terrorists."
Ingersoll said he hopes KFC stands firm against PETA’s demands.
“I don’t know about you, but I want my chicken to be cut in the throat, hung upside down and bled to death,” Ingersoll said. “I don’t want no chicken that has been gassed. Chickens are not gassed in the farm.”
Olivo also was not sympathetic toward the activists. He accused them of taking away his way of life.
“As far as I’m concerned, they are terrorists. I’m trying to make a living and they are trying to stop my people from making a living,” he said just before cranking the water system at full blast, showering the protesters.
“To me, there is no difference between them and al-Qaida.”
Link was accompanied by Chris Arellano, an Uvalde native, who was holding a television showing the slaughter of chickens.
Eric Deardorff, the man inside the chicken suit, was at the receiving end of most of the obscene comments at the intersection.
Link said awareness is vital to PETA’s goal in stopping cruelty to animals. The organization’s reason for pressuring KFC is because the company is the nation’s largest buyer of chicken. The restaurant chain, therefore, has the power to change the way slaughter houses kill the chickens.
“Almost all (PETA’s) money goes directly to fund animals,” Link said. “Every dime goes directly to helping animals whether it’s through demonstrations (or) to raise awareness.”
Olivo said the campaign is hypocrisy. “I’m sure they secretly eat their hamburgers,” he said.
gsalinas@brownsvilleherald.com
www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_more.php?id=64646_0_10_0_M36
********************************************
Simmons tries to smooth
PETA, KFC feathers
By Jeannette Walls
MSNBC
Updated: 2:40 a.m. ET April 11, 2005Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, known for brokering peace talks between feuding rappers, has been at the center of secret negotiations between KFC and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — says a source — but it looks like some feathers might still be ruffled.
KFC, which PETA has been pressuring to stop scalding live birds in the defeathering tank, among other practices, had refused to meet with the animal-rights group for years. Then Reverend Al Sharpton narrated a grisly PETA video exposé on the fast-food chain, which was screened for horrified customers outside innercity KFCs across the country this winter. Fearful of losing their urban market, KFC shuttled their COO and other execs to New York for meetings with longtime PETA advisor Simmons and Sharpton’s reps, in exchange for a moratorium on public screenings of the Sharpton KFC video, according to the source.
“Russell and the Rev reiterated PETA’s goal — that KFC merely follow the advice of their own humane advisory board and phase out cruelties such as forced rapid growth, which causes crippling leg deformities,” an insider tells The Scoop. “KFC countered that their humane board had almost no changes to suggest.” But PETA is saying that KFC misrepresented the claims of its own advisors.
Spokesmen for PETA and KFC couldn’t be reached for comment, but if a truce isn’t reached, says the source, PETA will relaunch KentuckyFriedCruelty.com, and revive not only Rev Sharpton’s video but will also run a blistering new commercial — starring Simmons himself.
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7434045/