Memo Cutting Off Negotiations

Facsimile

To: Jack Greenberg, CEO
From: Steve Gross, for PETA
Date: August 12, 1999
Re: Commitment

1 page via fax: 630-623-7409

We are finished. Two years of negotiations with McDonald's have proved to our satisfaction that you care not one whit about the animals who are raised and killed for your restaurants. We are disappointed and saddened that McDonald's public pronouncements about commitment to animal welfare are nothing more than so much public relations bunk. To date, McDonald's has not even attempted to require slaughterhouses to meet humane standards of slaughter as defined by the USDA. As one basic example, Dr. Grandin, the United States' foremost expert on slaughterhouse practices, suggests that McDonald's could with virtually no effort require suppliers to hire two stunners, thus decreasing markedly the number of animals who are skinned and dismembered while still conscious. You choose not to take even this basic step. And you lie about your commitment on your Web site and in your correspondence. How pitiful.

McDonald's also refuses to address the horrific conditions of animals on farms, despite a judicial ruling finding McDonald's responsible for cruelty to animals in a variety of ways. As one example from among six different ways that the judge held McDonald's responsible for animal cruelty, McDonald's has done nothing to change the conditions of chickens raised in battery cages. The conditions under which animals are being raised are so appalling that major European governments have decided to phase out battery cages. Governments can change farm practices, but McDonald's does not have the time to address even these most basic issues.

McDonald's lack of commitment is sad and insulting. To assign animal welfare to your PR department is appropriate if you want to produce soundbites without change. To appoint an individual to handle animal welfare (Bob Langert, McDonald's Public Relations), who is neither knowledgeable about animal issues nor committed to animal welfare is an excellent strategy for maintaining a cruel and depraved status quo.

When McDonald's is ready to address animal welfare issues in a sincere and constructive manner, PETA is ready to work with you.

cc: Dr. Temple Grandin, Colorado State University
Dr. Ian Duncan, University of Guelph
Bruce Friedrich, PETA