Animal charity The Humane League UK (THL UK) will shut down KFC drive-thrus across the country this summer, hitting KFC “where it hurts” after the company abandoned its commitment to improving animal welfare.
The restaurant reneged on its promise to stop using fast-growing breeds of chicken – dubbed Frankenchickens – by 2026. KFC continues to ignore calls for the company to publish a new timeline to end the use of these animals who have suffering coded into their DNA.
There has been months of dialogue between activists and the management, alongside the peaceful protests. Members of the public sent 16,000 emails to KFC voicing their anger at the company’s backtracking on the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC).
Tormented
Claire Williams, campaigns manager at THL UK, said: “KFC is taking us for a ride. Six years ago this summer, they said they’d stop using Frankenchickens, yet have failed to act.
“These are birds whose explosive growth leads to muscle diseases and higher rates of blisters and burns over their bodies.
“With KFC taking no meaningful action to end the suffering of these chickens, we have no choice but to shut down drive-thrus and hit them where it hurts, exposing the shocking truth to KFC customers. Without a roadmap for change, these animals are stuck, trapped and tormented.”
Cruelty
KFC claims they will give their UK-raised birds more space by October 2025, but this is only around 50 per cent of their supply. KFC has have announced a £1.5 billion expansion in the UK and Ireland, creating another 500 restaurants, meaning even more Frankenchickens will suffer.
The BCC is an animal welfare policy targeting the worst forms of suffering in chicken farming, including swapping Frankenchickens for healthier, slower-growing birds.
Chickens are the most farmed animal in the UK, with 1.1 billion raised and killed for meat every year. A total of 90 per cent are Frankenchickens, subjected to intensive factory farming conditions. THL UK argues that this is an unrivalled crisis in animal cruelty.
This Author
Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist. This article is based on a press release from The Humane League UK.