To the Editor:

Nearly everyone loves animals and wants what is best for them, but a certain restaurant is doing the exact opposite. McDonald’s purchases over 46 million pounds of chicken a year to meet our demands. This includes the McDonald’s on South College Road. Depending on the size of the chicken this is about 3 – 5 million chickens killed each year just to supply McDonald’s products. The reason I am singling out McDonald’s is because the chickens they source are kept in terrible conditions. The vast majority of the chickens are kept in the thousands in sheds with no light, poor ventilation, and limited space. They are genetically manipulated to grow so fast that their legs often break beneath them.

A coalition of reputable animal advocacy organizations including The Humane League and Mercy for Animals have called on McDonald’s and their competitors to commit to meaningful welfare changes for these broiler hens. Although many of McDonalds’ competitors like Subway and Burger King have committed to these changes, McDonald’s has not. Instead, McDonald’s released their own statement describing a welfare policy that was not nearly as humane. I am calling on all animal lovers regardless of diet to reach out to McDonald’s, ask them to commit to better welfare policies, and boycott their products until they do so.

Sincerely,

Akilah Barrett