It was a beautiful sunny Tuesday morning in Louisville, Kentucky, as shareholders wound their way down Colonel Sanders Lane to the headquarters of Kentucky Fried Chicken for their annual meeting. But once they got there, Montrealer Alix Allison, a 24-year old Concordia student and member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), promptly ruined their day. >> Dressed head-to-toe in a feather-clad yellow chicken suit and walking about on crutches, Allison hobbled up the steps of the glass-and-aluminum low-rise and attempted to enter the meeting. Police officers at the door relieved her of her crutches and carried her back down the stairs. Then Allison, both of whose legs are in top shape, attempted to crawl back up the steps. At that point, police ushered her into a squadcar and off to the local station, where she was charged with criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct. >> "She was protesting the fact that by the time they are slaughtered, most chickens already have painful leg injuries," explains PETA's Jason Baker, who was present at the scene. "They are fattened so fast they crumble under their own weight." Cramped spaces also might have something to do with it: most chickens are raised in individual cages no bigger than the size of a piece of paper, and barely tall enough for them to stand in. >> Baker says PETA also had a shareholder inside the meeting who read a statement about animal cruelty. "Kentucky Fried Chicken is the biggest purchaser of chickens in the world, and they have the power to change things. To them, chickens are property, but chickens feel pain and suffering too. >> "Hopefully shareholders will start thinking about the issue. What we want is a company resolution for the chickens." >> Allison spent the entire day at the police station before being released from custody. --Philip Preville
It was a beautiful sunny Tuesday morning in Louisville, Kentucky, as shareholders wound their way down Colonel Sanders Lane to the headquarters of Kentucky Fried Chicken for their annual meeting. But once they got there, Montrealer Alix Allison, a 24-year old Concordia student and member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), promptly ruined their day. >> Dressed head-to-toe in a feather-clad yellow chicken suit and walking about on crutches, Allison hobbled up the steps of the glass-and-aluminum low-rise and attempted to enter the meeting. Police officers at the door relieved her of her crutches and carried her back down the stairs. Then Allison, both of whose legs are in top shape, attempted to crawl back up the steps. At that point, police ushered her into a squadcar and off to the local station, where she was charged with criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct. >> "She was protesting the fact that by the time they are slaughtered, most chickens already have painful leg injuries," explains PETA's Jason Baker, who was present at the scene. "They are fattened so fast they crumble under their own weight." Cramped spaces also might have something to do with it: most chickens are raised in individual cages no bigger than the size of a piece of paper, and barely tall enough for them to stand in. >> Baker says PETA also had a shareholder inside the meeting who read a statement about animal cruelty. "Kentucky Fried Chicken is the biggest purchaser of chickens in the world, and they have the power to change things. To them, chickens are property, but chickens feel pain and suffering too. >> "Hopefully shareholders will start thinking about the issue. What we want is a company resolution for the chickens." >> Allison spent the entire day at the police station before being released from custody. --Philip Preville