PETA's McDonald's Shareholder Statement, May 20, 1999

My name is Dr. Steven Gross, and I'm here today on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals-PETA-and its 600,000 members worldwide.

In the two years since the British High Court found McDonald's "culpably responsible" for cruelty to animals, we have waited for McDonald's to take significant steps toward ending the suffering of the animals slaughtered for McDonald's restaurants. We are still waiting. The animals, too, are waiting and still suffering.

McDonald's, with its worldwide financial success and name recognition, is poised to become a leader in the reformation of factory farming practices. To take advantage of that is to show consumers and shareholders that while profit remains a priority, profit at the expense of human decency is a hollow reward.

Today I ask you to take six steps to reduce animal suffering.

1. Follow the recommendations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and give chickens at least one and one-half square feet of living space. McDonald's allows approximately .55 square feet of room, which is not enough space to spread one wing.

2. Stop selling eggs from factory-farmed hens. McDonald's suppliers now use a battery cage system in which four to seven birds spend their entire lives crammed into a small wire cage with floor space the size of a record album cover. Their feet become deformed from the wire. Their feathers fall out from unnatural forced moltings. They batter their wings bloody on the cages. Living birds stand on top of dead hens, who are not removed from the cages.

3. Require improved standards for chicken transport and slaughter. Chickens bound for the slaughterhouse are stuffed into cages so tightly that they cannot even stand upright. Many die of heat exhaustion or freeze to death on the backs of open transport trucks. At the slaughterhouse, many are not properly stunned before their throats are cut. These animals go fully conscious into scalding vats of water.

4. Stop using genetically altered birds. The chickens McDonald's uses are genetically bred to grow so large so fast that their legs cannot support their own weight and become painfully deformed. Leg problems lead to heart failure, lung infection, starvation, and dehydration.

5. Buy pigs only from farms that provide sows with room to move around outdoors. Most breeding sows on U.S. farms spend their entire lives in tight cement cells, unable even to turn around. Unable to see sunshine, breathe fresh air, build a nest for their piglets, or engage in any normal behavior, many show signs of mental illness. They are literally driven mad by the stress of confinement.

6. Finally, we ask you again to add a vegetarian burger to all McDonald's USA restaurants. McDonald's is already serving vegetarian burgers in New York City and many European countries. If you offer a veggie burger, we stand ready to give you a two-page spread in our member magazine to promote it.

These suggestions are offered in a spirit of cooperation. You have the power to do tremendous good. PETA stands ready to help. Please consider our suggestions. Thank you.