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Students from Lone Peak High School and Mountain Ridge Junior High School stood up for a cause Saturday afternoon as they protested in front of Kentucky Fried Chicken in American Fork. Their cause was what they termed the restaurant's treatment of chickens.
About a dozen waved signs including "Beaks Cut Off," "Wings and Legs Broken" and "Honk if you hate animal cruelty." They were greeted by more horns honking than drivers jeering.
The protest's organizer, 16-year-old Jessica Zepeda of Cedar Hills, said the group wanted to have KFC and its suppliers treat the chickens more humanely prior to killing them.
"We want them to treat the animals nicely and kill them nicer," she said. "We want them to learn to be nicer to their animals."
She said in an interview Monday she was glad she did the protest.
"Some people didn't know about it," she said. "They didn't know how the company is. I think some people understand more. We had a lot more people giving us thumbs up. It went pretty well."
At school Monday, she had another show of support from fellow students.
"They said they saw us in the paper and were proud of us," she said.
The protest began at 4:30 p.m. and police showed up soon thereafter, called by KFC managers when Jessica ran into the restaurant with a handful of literature from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and began booing. Managers demanded she leave, she said, and she complied.
Officer Jason Ruch of the American Fork police department told protestors they must not block the restaurant's driveway or go onto restaurant property.
"I think you guys are crazy," he added with a smile. "It's too cold."
Protestors responded by begging him not to eat at the restaurant in the future.
Jessica said she got involved in the cause when she saw an advertisement from People for Ethical Treatment of Animals on a Web site and followed through on her research. A Web site called KentuckyFriedCruelty.com showed undercover videos that PETA claims show abuses at KFC suppliers. She joined PETA, then organized the protest. She said she plans another protest at the company's corporate headquarters later this year and hopes more people will join her then.
Jessica passed out flyers at the schools and encouraged others to participate in the protest.
Cyndel Dodenbier said learning about the alleged cruelty was why she joined in Saturday's protest.
"I came because I watched a video about the cruelty they do to animals," the 16-year-old said. "It is horrible. I don't think any animal should have to go through that."
The PETA protestors -- none of whom wore coats or gloves during the event, saying they had not expected it to be so cold -- handed out brochures provided by PETA stating that five of KFC's advisory council members quit in protest after the restaurant chain refused to implement even one of their suggestions.
The brochure contained quotes from Pope Benedict XVI, Paul McCartney and Pamela Anderson, among others, decrying animal cruelty.
The group claims that "workers at a KFC Supplier of the Year slaughterhouse spat tobacco into birds' eyes, spray-painted their faces, slammed them against walls, and stomped them to death" and the restaurant chain still purchases from this supplier.
A KFC manager who came out when police arrived declined to be named or interviewed but later gave out a printed statement titled "PETA claims against KFC are not true."
KFC was the first to "adopt industry-leading guidelines and audits for the human raising and handling of poultry," according to the statement. Suppliers are subjected to unannounced audits and given "strict welfare guidelines developed by us with leading experts on our Animal Welfare Advisory Council."
The statement urged consumers to visit KFC.com for information.
Two of the protestors Alex Stulce, 14, and Wade Draper, 14, both of Highland, admitted they had eaten at the same restaurant hours earlier on Saturday, Alex enjoying popcorn chicken. Both said they were protesting to support friends, and both said they had had a change of heart since lunch.
"My friend Caroline Casazza was handing out flyers at school," Alex said. "It told us about how they process the chickens and how they throw the chickens. They told about their living environment and stuff."
Asked what he would recommend, Alex said they start with "making the cages bigger."
"At first, I wasn't going to come but I was really interested in it," Wade said. "I read about it. What they do is wrong. I really do care. They keep the chickens in a cage the size of a piece of paper. They cut off their beaks and throw them against the walls and torture them.
• Caleb Warnock contributed to this article. |
