Dear Barbara,

What makes me think that PETA can convince McDonald's to rewrite its corporate animal welfare policies? Burger King. Wendy's. Canadian KFCs. Denny's. Hardees. Carl's Jr. Safeway. Albertsons. Harris Teeter. Winn-Dixie.

These are some of the biggest grocery and restaurant chains in the U.S. and Canada, and PETA has brought them all to the bargaining table and won some of the most sweeping improvements for farmed animals ever. Because of our efforts, fewer factory farms are using cruel gestation crates to confine pregnant sows or "battery cages," in which hens are crammed so tightly together that they cannot spread a single wing.

Now we're taking on McDonald's. Its reforms will lead the way for the greatest changes in the industry. We can win this battle and others—but only with your support.

Chickens killed by McDonald's suppliers are dumped from their crates and violently shackled by workers, often as their limbs are broken or torn off. Many have their throats cut or are scalded to death in tanks of boiling water while still conscious.

The terror that these animals endure can be easily eliminated by switching to controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK)—the least cruel form of poultry slaughter ever developed. With CAK, an inert gas puts the birds to sleep quickly and painlessly while they are still in their transport cages—eliminating much of the suffering that they endure during the slaughter process.

Many of the other companies that PETA staff members have worked with—including Burger King, Canadian KFCs, Wendy's, and Popeye's—are agreeing to push their suppliers to switch to CAK. But McDonald's is refusing to do so. It's even ignored its own study, which showed that CAK would both reduce the suffering of chickens and save the company money.

But that can change with your help today.

As the largest seller of chicken flesh in the U.S., McDonald's has both the responsibility and the ability to pave the way for this important reform to take hold in slaughterhouses across the country.

PETA has the investigators, the activists, the know-how, and the determination to win this campaign. But McDonald's is as formidable an opponent as we've ever faced, and we need your immediate help to turn up the heat. Please make a tax-deductible donation for the countless chickens and other animals facing a painful death without our action today.

Thank you for all that you do to help animals.

Very truly yours,


Ingrid E. Newkirk
President

P.S. We must work right now to stop the most egregious abuses of countless chickens, pigs, and other wonderful, vulnerable animals on factory farms and in slaughterhouses. I hope I can count on you today to help us take on McDonald's and other companies that are responsible for so much animal suffering.