Kinship Circle | Letter Campaigns

2/5/08: Tyson Under Fire For Kill Floor Cruelty

SOURCE OF INFORMATION / BACKGROUND

ХааTyson Workers Caught Torturing Birds, Urinating on Slaughter Line
ХааPETA Investigative Footage Shot At Two Tyson Plants, Fall 2007
ХааPETA Investigative Video At Alabama Tyson Slaughterplant, 2005
ХааTyson Probes PETA Claim
ХааUSDA Investigates Animal Abuse Claims At Tyson Plant
ХааAdditional research for contact information: Bridget Soeder, Kinship Circle Research Director
ХааVIDEO: Video Of Workers Abusing Cows Raises Food Safety Questions
ХааSTORY: Video Reveals Violations of Laws, Abuse of Cows at Slaughterhouse
аааaburgess@recap.com writes: The more hits this video gets, the higher its placement on the page. You don't have
to view video to simply view the article and count your viewer-ship.

CONTACT INFORMATION + SAMPLE LETTER

CONTACT INFORMATION • Print/Send This Letter

TYSON FOODS
    Gary Mickelson, Tyson Spokesperson
    Tyson Foods, Inc.
    2210 W. Oaklawn Dr. • Springdale, Arkansas 72762-6999
    ph: 479-290-6111; email: gary.mickelson@tyson.com
    SOURCE: www.tyson.com/Corporate/PressRoom/

    John Tyson, Chair And CEO
    Tyson Foods, Inc.
    2210 W. Oaklawn Dr. • Springdale, Arkansas 72762-6999
    corporate web mail: www.tyson.com/Corporate/Contact.aspx

    Michelle Johns, Tyson Food Service Concierge
    ph: 1-800-24-TYSON (1-800-248-9766)
    email: michelle.johns@tyson.com
    consumer web mail: www.tyson.com/FoodService/Contact.aspx

KFC CORPORATION (Customer of Tyson Foods)
    KFC Corporate (for comments)
    P.O. Box 725489 • Atlanta, GA 31139
    Customer Satisfaction Numbers: (U.S.) 1-800-225-5532; (Canada) 1-866-664-5696
    web mail: www.kfc.com/contact/default.asp
    SOURCE: www.kfc.com/contact/default.asp

    KFC Corporation
    1441 Gardiner Lane • Louisville, Kentucky 40213
    ph: 502-874-8300

    Laurie Schalow, KFC Spokeswoman
    ph: 502-874-8100; email: Laurie.Schalow@kfc.com

YUM! BRANDS, INC. (Owns KFC and other fast food chains)
    David Novak, Chairman, President, and CEO
    Yum! Brands • 1441 Gardiner Lane • Louisville, KY 40213
    ph: 502-874-8300; fax: 502-874-8790

    Peter Bassi, Chair, YUM! Restaurants International
    14841 Dallas Parkway • Dallas TX, 75254

    Yum! Brands Restaurant Support Center
    1900 Colonel Sanders Lane • Louisville, KY 40213
    ph: 502-874-8300
    web mail: www.yum.com/contact/Checkage.asp
    SOURCE: www.yum.com/

*Kinship Circle cannot guarantee validity of email addresses. During campaigns, recipients may change or disable their email addresses. Emails from government or corporate websites may be incorrect.

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SAMPLE LETTER • Print/Send This Letter

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I respectfully ask KFC, Yum! Brands and Tyson Foods, to do more to alleviate suffering for millions of chickens raised and slaughtered for human consumption.

Recent allegations depict gratuitous cruelty at Tyson slaughterhouses in Union City, Tennessee and Cumming, Georgia. This is not the first time animal abuse has been documented at a KFC supplier. A 2004 videotape exposed employees of Pilgrim's Pride twisting off the heads of live chickens. At the Moorefield, West Virginia plant, workers spat tobacco into the birds' eyes and mouths, spray-painted faces, and crushed them against walls.

A 2004/2005 investigation at a Heflin, Alabama Tyson slaughterhouse revealed more animal mistreatment. Now, 2007 footage of Tyson kill floors shows birds impaled, beaten, beheaded and violently thrust into shackles.

Supervisors at the Georgia and Tennessee facilities apparently engaged in abuse or were informed about it. One told a worker it was okay to tear off chickens' heads who'd been clumsily shackled by their necks instead of legs. When birds died because their heads and legs became ensnared under a door at the end of a conveyer belt, a supervisor ignored the problem.

Most consumers would be appalled to know automated blades often slice birds' bodies rather than throats. Yet a supervisor cognizant of these mutilations accepted them as a side effect of an imperfect machine. A worker confessed to bashing a chicken against a rail until he shattered the bird's back. A back-up killer was observed knifing birds in their neck areas.

This is blatant violence. I call upon Tyson Foods to fire employees implicated in animal abuse. Please monitor all kills floors and hang areas via video camera and employ your own undercover investigators to report cruelty. At the very least, Tyson, Yum! Brands and KFC ought to advocate "controlled-atmosphere killing," a less agonizing mode of slaughter.

I urge Tyson to enforce animal protection guidelines and KFC to better supervise its suppliers. In fact, KFC and its owner Yum! Brands, should require Tyson and other suppliers to crack down on cruelty.

Until measurable strides are taken to administer these improvements, I will ask friends, family and colleagues to not spend money on your companies.

Thank you,

EASILY PERSONALIZE AND SEND COMMENTS NOW

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DISCLAIMER: The information in these materials is verified with the original source. Kinship Circle does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information or for the consequences of its use. Nothing on this website is intended to encourage illegal action in whatever country you are reading it in. Kinship Circle does not engage in, nor support, any form of harassment or unlawful activity. Nothing in this action alert serves to promote such conduct.

Kinship Circle cannot guarantee the validity of email addresses. During a campaign, recipients may change or disable their email addresses. Email addresses obtained from government or other official websites may be outdated or incorrect.