Burger King's statement, far from fulfilling PETA's reasonable request of the chain, is a public relations scam that does nothing to improve life for even one animal. What Burger King announced as "new" in its April 2 news release (sent out in response to PETA's full-page ad in the Miami Herald and its demonstration at Burger King headquarters, also on April 2) it has been saying since PETA first contacted the company in October.

The On-Farm "Standards"

To call these standards "animal welfare" standards is false. In fact, these are "animal abuse" standards; they tell farmers just how much abuse they can get away with inflicting before too many animals drop dead from the stress to justify the practices. These industry guidelines exist only to maximize corporate profits, and they discount animal welfare altogether. Additionally, for Burger King to claim that it plans to implement these standards is equally misleading, since the standards describe exactly the way things are already done today.

McDonald's has agreed, in response to PETA's pressure, to leave industry guidelines in the dust where they belong and to implement its own, higher minimal standards. Burger King, for its part, sends out news releases claiming to implement standards-exactly the same thing that it has been saying for six months.

Humane Slaughter

Burger King has been saying, ever since our first contact with the company in October 2000, that it expects its suppliers to slaughter animals humanely. PETA has pointed out repeatedly that nothing will change unless it audits slaughterhouses and stops purchasing from the offending ones. It has asked Burger King to follow McDonald's lead by severing ties with slaughterhouses that skin and dismember conscious animals. Burger King has refused, and this news release does not indicate any change in company policy.

Conclusion

It is duplicitous for Burger King to send out this news release as though it indicates a change in policy. McDonald's continues to improve animal welfare standards; Burger King only blows smoke. Burger King has yet to give any indication that it will intervene even if it finds one of its slaughterhouses skinning and dismembering every single animal while fully conscious on a slaughter line, kicking and screaming through the entire process. Burger King still allows its suppliers to cram seven to 12 hens into a cage the size of a file drawer, still severs the beaks of baby chicks with a hot blade, and still buys from suppliers that starve hens for up to six weeks in order to shock their bodies into another laying cycle. Burger King continues to buy from suppliers that cram breeding sows into cement stalls so small that they can't even turn around or lie down comfortably. And the list of abuses goes on.

Burger King could end PETA's campaign today, quite simply, by agreeing to do what its chief competitor has already done-enforce compliance from its slaughterhouses and leave the industry's animal cruelty guidelines behind in favor of higher animal welfare standards.

Click Here To Read The Burger King Release