Animal rights activists will distribute information about alleged cruelty in the rearing and slaughter of chickens outside a Dublin school today.
The protest, organised by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) and the Irish Alliance for Animal Rights, aims to highlights the treatment of chickens destined for Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets.
Yvonne Taylor, Peta
Yvonne Taylor, a Peta spokeswoman, said the protest outside Ardscoil La Salle Secondary School, in Raheny was to raise awareness of the issue among the age group most activity targetted by the restaurant.
"This is part of a global campaign and even when we have brought the abuses to the attention of KFC, unlike other companies like McDonalds they have been very slow to respond.
"And, in their corporate-speak responses KFC have not actually denied our claims that some of their suppliers are abusing the chickens. And we have video evidence to prove it."
When contacted about today's action a spokesperson for KFC said: "Our experience of Peta's previous acts of corporate terrorism is that they are designed as publicity stunts to promote vegetarianism and we believe that targeting children in this way crosses the line of acceptable behaviour.
"KFC only represents a very small part of the Irish chicken supply (less than 3 per cent) and uses the same suppliers as other leading retailers. All our suppliers meet or exceed all EU regulations".
Ms Taylor said the demonstration would take place as the school day ends. "We don't want to cause disruption. We just want kids, some of whom might be going from school to somewhere like KFC, to be aware of what's going on".
Today's action is part of a worldwide targetting of KFC by Peta. Ms Taylor said whether or not another protest would be held here depended on the response from KFC. "We hope they'll change their practices and then we can move on to other issues."
