*this comes after five and a half years of intense campaigning and 7 months of negotiations

*KFC Canada is run separately from KFC in other countries, and is feeling major heat about their bold move from the world hq in Louisville.

*According to our deal, KFC Canada will do the following:

* Purchase 100 percent of its chickens, through a phase-in plan, from suppliers that use controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK)—the least cruel form of poultry slaughter ever developed. This will prevent live-scalding, sadistic abuse by workers (since with CAK, workers never even touch live birds), broken bones, painful electric shocks, live throat slitting and other abuses. AND this is the first time any company has committed to a total phase in of CAK. What’s most remarkable is that currently, only ONE chicken slaughterhouse in Canada uses CAK, so this will require the industry as a whole to switch over the next few years.

* Add a vegan faux-chicken item to the menu of about 65% of KFCs in Canada (!!!!!)

* Improve its animal welfare audit criteria to reduce the number of broken bones and other injuries suffered by birds and send us the detailed results of all their audits every six months…from now until the end of time.

* Urge its suppliers to adopt better farming practices, including improved lighting, lower stocking-density and ammonia levels, and a phase-out of growth-promoting drugs and breeding practices that painfully cripple chickens

* Form an animal welfare advisory panel and allow us to have a say in who is on it.

The Globe and Mail (Canada) June 2, 2008

SECTION: REPORT ON BUSINESS: CANADIAN; FAST FOOD; Pg. B4

HEADLINE: KFC bows to PETA demands

BYLINE: COLIN PERKEL, The Canadian Press

DATELINE: TORONTO

BODY:  After suffering a five-year roasting by animal-rights activists, KFC Canada is promising improved welfare for the chickens it buys for its fast-food outlets in exchange for an end to a boycott campaign that will continue in the United States and elsewhere.   The Canadian Press has learned that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has agreed to call off its Canadian “Kentucky Fried Cruelty” campaign, which featured high-profile actress Pamela Anderson among others, in the wake of a signed agreement with the company.  KFC Canada is operated by Vaughan, Ont.-based Priszm Income Fund.  Among other things, the deal obliges KFC Canada to begin buying from suppliers who use gas to kill their chickens painlessly, considered to be the least cruel method.  The company is also promising to insist on other “animal-welfare friendly” measures relating to how the birds are kept, including a maximum on crowding and phasing out non-essential growth-hormones and other drugs.  Customers of the popular restaurant chain will also be able to order a vegan “chicken” item, according to the deal that was reached after almost seven months of at-times “sticky” closed-door negotiations.