3 minute read
Where the Fur Flies
It’s noon on a frigid December day in Portland. On Forest Avenue, drivers slow past KFC as they catch sight of a gaggle of scantily-clad young women with signs: “KFC: On The Naughty List,” “Boycott KFC Cruelty,” and “KFC Tortures Chicks.” Forget how cold they must be in these costumes–with a whiff of Vegas about them, are any of these warm-hearted activists actually from Maine? PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of
chickens in ways that would warrant felony cruelty charges if dogs or cats were the victims.” When pressed, Byrne admits KFC itself isn’t abusing chickens; it’s some of their suppliers. “We are asking KFC to hold their producers to a higher standard. Abuse is widespread in these slaughterhouses and factory farms. People need to know that KFC has repeatedly refused to make changes. It’s hard to imagine why they haven’t; they’ve said themselves it would only cost them about 2 cents a meal, and countless people have decided to boycott them, including a long list of celebrities on our website,” from Sir Paul McCartney to Pamela Anderson, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Pink, and the Dalai Lama. Fur Where the
On the trail of PeTa in Maine.
by donna stuart
Animals) is in town, as part of a pre-holiday swing through New England that will take two of its staff from the organization’s Norfolk, Virginia, headquarters to Augusta, Bangor, Burlington, Vermont and Manchester, New Hampshire. It wasn’t PETA’s first foray into Maine in 2008; in June, PETA proposed turning Somerset County Jail into a “lobster empathy center,” to show the callous (and certainly inattentive) among us how lobsters are trapped, housed in tanks PETA says are “filthy,” and then boiled alive. According to their press release, “Visitors to the center could voluntarily have their fingers rubber-banded together, and then they could walk into a dirty tank where they would be pressed up against other visitors to simulate conditions for lobsters in supermarket tanks.” The exhibit is designed to seize attention with “a giant lobster-trap mockup and a restaurant serving delicious plant-based faux lobster.”
But don’t Mainers already know how lobsters are trapped and cooked? And in spite of PETA’s admirable reputation for animal advocacy, don’t some of us bristle when we’re told how to think, no matter the cause?
Ashley Byrne is the PETA Campaign Coordinator who organized the December protest and appeared in it, in a red bikini top, miniskirt and Santa hat. “People have such a compassionate reaction when they find out about KFC abusing ‘Countless’ is the operative word with
Byrne. It takes three phone calls for her to finally provide the number of PETA activists/ members in Maine: 246, while there are over 400 in New Hampshire and 1,587 in Massachusetts.
One of those 246 Maine activists is 19-year-old Meg Osgood of Portland, known as “the Chicken Lady” for her frequent protests against KFC, according to PETA2.com. As part of PETA’s “Street Team” of young activists, she earns points towards free PETA DVDs, shirts, books, and other merchandise for each PETA action in which she participates. “I’ve seen a pretty decent impact [from my activism]. If you present information to people that doesn’t make them feel bad or challenge them in an antagonistic way, they’re really receptive to it,” says the communications major. “I wouldn’t say there are a lot [of PETA volunteers] in the Portland area. I go to USM and there’s an animal rights group here of about 10 people; and I know a lot of women from the Maine Animal Coalition who’ve protested with me before–maybe 20-30 people total.”
When questioned about how ethical PETA is to exploit young women in various states of undress to make a point, Osgood–a quarterfinalist in PETA’s 2008 national Cutest Vegetarian Contest–replies, “I feel fine about it. It gets us attention. I don’t think the women out there are feeling demoralized. They’re getting attention because that’s what people notice.” n
