ACT/ Tyson Under Fire For Kill Floor Cruelty

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ACT/ Tyson Under Fire For Kill Floor Cruelty KINSHIP CIRCLE PRIMARY - PERMISSION TO CROSS-POST AS WRITTEN 2/5/08: Tyson Under Fire For Kill Floor Cruelty http://www.KinshipCircle.org What most don't know about farmed animals... VIDEO: Video of workers abusing cows raises food safety questions http://www.digg.com/food_drink/Video_of_workers_abusing_cows_raises_food_safety_questions STORY: Video Reveals Violations of Laws, Abuse of Cows at Slaughterhouse http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/29/AR2008012903054.html?hpid=moreheadlines aburgess 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. EMAIL kinshipcircle FOR WORD DOC OF A FORMATTED LETTER. Easily modify letter and copy/paste it into an email or print out to fax or mail. =========================================================== FULL CONTACT

INFORMATION. Sample letter follows. =========================================================== TYSON FOODS Gary Mickelson, Tyson Spokesperson Tyson Foods, Inc. 2210 W. Oaklawn Dr. * Springdale, Arkansas 72762-6999 ph: 479-290-6111; email: gary.mickelson SOURCE: http://www.tyson.com/Corporate/PressRoom/ John Tyson, Chair And CEO Tyson Foods, Inc. 2210 W. Oaklawn Dr. * Springdale, Arkansas 72762-6999 corporate web mail: http://www.tyson.com/Corporate/Contact.aspx

Michelle Johns, Tyson Food Service Concierge ph: 1-800-24-TYSON (1-800-248-9766) email: michelle.johns consumer web mail: http://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: http://www.kfc.com/contact/default.asp SOURCE: http://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 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: http://www.yum.com/contact/Checkage.asp SOURCE: http://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. =========================================================== SAMPLE LETTER -- This letter is prepared to inform you about the issue. Try to shorten and personalize your letter before sending. =========================================================== 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, =========================================================== SOURCE OF INFORMATION FOR THIS LETTER CAMPAIGN =========================================================== Tyson Workers Caught Torturing Birds, Urinating on Slaughter Line http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/tortured_by_tyson PETA Investigative Footage Shot At Two Tyson Plants, Fall 2007 http://tinyurl.com/2n6hgj PETA Investigative Video At Alabama Tyson Slaughterplant, 2005 http://tinyurl.com/3xtc9u Tyson Probes PETA Claim http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-22337347.htm USDA Investigates Animal Abuse Claims At Tyson Plant http://www.ajc.com/services/content/business/stories/2008/01/17/chicken_0117.html Additional research for contact information: Bridget Soeder, Kinship Circle Research Director, galileao Sandra Nathan, Kinship Circle Subscriber, sandrazz Action Campaigns I Literature I Animal Disaster Aid Networking info or

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