PETA's Letter to McDonald's CEO Jack Greenberg Announcing the Moratorium

September 6, 2000

Jack Greenberg, Chief Executive Officer
McDonald's Corporation
1 Kroc Dr.
Oak Brook, IL 60523

Dear Mr. Greenberg:

I am writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' (PETA's) more than 700,000 members. We are pleased to learn that, given the appalling conditions of sows who live on cement in tiny stalls where they are unable to turn around, McDonald's has begun to explore the "feasibility" of buying pig products from suppliers who raise the animals in less cruel conditions. We also commend you for the recent steps you have taken to improve the miserable lives of laying hens by increasing cage size, eliminating "debeaking," and prohibiting "forced molting." These steps, as well as your previous reforms, including instituting more humane catching methods for chickens, offering financial incentives to employees who handle the birds carefully by not breaking bones, and starting to audit slaughterhouses and cut off those suppliers not in compliance with humane slaughter guidelines, have compelled us to reconsider our campaign. As a result, barring any unforeseen developments on McDonald's part, we are declaring a one-year moratorium on our campaign against McDonald's, effective immediately. We are doing this to afford McDonald's a decent amount of time to make other important changes in line with its public pledge to keep moving forward with animal welfare improvements.

This is to advise you that PETA will immediately end any further distribution of its "Unhappy Meals;" halt the distribution of all McDonald's campaign materials, including leaflets, posters, and stickers; refrain from participating in the October 16, 2000 World Day of Action against McDonald's (you may recall that PETA organized more than 400 demonstrations during last year's World Day of Action); and cancel our international call to "sponsor a McDonald's restaurant," which involved activists from around the world committing to regular demonstrations at McDonald's restaurants in their cities, with PETA supplying all materials free of charge. We do not take this step lightly, and we do not take it without having an end goal in mind, which we will set out below.

While McDonald's has shown that it can make important changes that reduce animal suffering, millions of animals continue to live miserable lives and die badly on factory farms and in slaughterhouses directly supported by McDonald's. As an industry giant, McDonald's is in a unique position to reduce that suffering. McDonald's initiatives to audit slaughterhouses and to establish welfare guidelines for hens is a fine step in the right direction, which we applaud, but clearly, much more can and must be done. We believe that to be considered a true leader in animal welfare, McDonald's must take action in the following eight areas. With these requests, we are merely asking McDonald's to terminate practices so patently cruel that many are being made illegal throughout most of Europe.

1) Phase out purchases from farms that confine sows to stalls. Again, in the U.K., McDonald's was a leader on this issue, refusing to purchase from farms that used stalls even before they were outlawed by the government.

2) Phase out purchases from suppliers that raise hens in battery cages. The McDonald's U.K. representative, Mr. Mike Love, agrees that battery cages are cruel to animals and tells us that McDonald's in Britain phased out battery cages before the U.K. outlawed them. If McDonald's can do it there, McDonald's can do it here.

3) Sell only chickens raised truly free-roaming. Intensively-reared chickens are cruelly crammed into crowded warehouses with tens of thousands of other birds where they have less space per bird than a standard sheet of paper (.55 square feet). Cutting a hole in the side of currently used warehouses, as many "free-range" companies do, does not constitute free-roaming. There needs to be a nesting area, a sunning area, shelter from inclement weather, and plenty of food and fresh water spread out enough so that the birds do not have to fight each other to eat.

4) Relieve chronic leg pain in broiler chickens by requiring that your suppliers stop breeding animals for weight. Currently, chickens are at full slaughter weight in less than two months. These birds suffer chronic leg pain and bone cracks as their upper bodies are forced to grow so quickly that their legs cannot hold their weight.

5) Require that slaughterhouses effectively stun chickens before slaughter. To do this, steps must be taken to ensure that every chicken's head passes through the stun bath, and power to these stun baths should be set at a level that renders chickens insensible to pain. Right now, power in the baths is set at a level that immobilizes chickens but does not render them unconscious. Thus, chickens who are still alive after their throats are slit enter the scalding tank for feather removal still conscious and are scalded to death.

6) Revise the standards for "Beef and Pork Handling Practices" to meet the Humane Slaughter Act's 100 percent stunning efficacy requirement for cows and pigs. McDonald's current goal of 95 percent (cows) and 99 percent (pigs) stunning efficacy is in violation of federal law. Hiring a second stunner on the "kill floor" and slowing down the slaughter lines should be required.

7) Require suppliers to immediately and humanely dispatch any animals who arrive at the slaughterhouse unable to walk, with broken limbs, or in severe pain (frozen, suffering from heat stroke, etc.). These animals should not be dragged or forced to walk to the kill floor, nor should they be left in "dead piles."

8) Make sure every slaughterhouse is inspected, increase the number of, and conduct only, unannounced audits. Many of McDonald's slaughterhouses can't even pass pre-announced audits at a level of performance below legal standards. McDonald's current audit practices require a slaughterhouse that passes an inspection to be inspected for, at the very most, one hour in an entire year.

Obviously, we need to know that McDonald's is moving things forward and that our moratorium is not in vain. We are happy to meet periodically and will certainly consider extending the moratorium if McDonald's gives us a genuine update of its progress in addressing the issues above. If, however, the company has not made significant progress by September 1, 2001, PETA will relaunch its campaign blitz against McDonald's with the next in the planned series of "Unhappy Meal" toys, distribution of all campaign materials, and hundreds of demonstrations across the globe beginning with World Day of Action against McDonald's on October 13, 2001.

As an industry giant and a $36 billion-per-year corporation, McDonald's could easily and swiftly achieve all the goals that we suggest above. We recognize that McDonald's has already begun to tread that path. We hope to hear from you soon. Thank you again for taking action in behalf of animals.

Sincerely,

Bruce G. Friedrich
Vegetarian Campaign Coordinator