000704 Animal Rights Group Presses McDonald's for ChangeJuly 3, 2000Chicago - A well-known animal rights group said it would abandon its “Unhappy Meal” campaign against McDonald's Corp if the burger giant agreed to stop buying eggs and pork from U.S. suppliers who confine animals in small cages or stalls. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said if McDonald's does not agree to the changes, the group will pass out “Unhappy Meals” at McDonald's restaurants and junior high schools in 40 U.S. cities this summer and fall. “Unhappy Meals” are mock-ups of McDonald's popular children's hamburger meal. PETA's version features the company's icon, Ronald McDonald, brandishing a bloody butcher knife on the side of the box, and toy animals with severed heads and limbs can be found inside, a PETA spokesman said. In a letter faxed to Jack Greenberg, McDonald's chairman and chief executive, PETA said it would halt its protests if McDonald's agrees to stop purchasing eggs from suppliers who put four to six laying hens in small wire cages called battery cages. PETA also asked that McDonald's not buy from producers who remove the beaks of hens to keep them from pecking each other in the confined space of the cage. The animal rights group has also requested that McDonald's phase out purchases from hog producers who keep breeding sows in stalls that don't leave room for the animal to turn around. “The only letter PETA should be writing is a letter of apology to all the parents and families who have been sickened by PETA's blood and gore 'Unhappy meal' assaults on kids,” McDonald's spokesman, Walt Riker, said. In its letter to Greenberg, PETA also thanked the company for implementing audits at slaughterhouses and reducing the number of cattle who are not fully stunned with electricity before they are killed. At its annual shareholders meeting, McDonald's Greenberg announced the formation of a blue-ribbon panel to study animal welfare issues. McDonald's said on Tuesday it would continue those efforts. McDonald's, with more than 27,000 restaurants in 119 countries, is often the target of international and domestic protests. For example French farm union leader Jose Bove is due to stand trial this week in connection with the ransacking of a McDonald's restaurant in 1999 to protest U.S. tariffs on EU foods. Bove said that McDonald's was a symbol of large-scale industrial farming. PETA said it would call on activists around the world to commit to regular demonstrations at McDonald's restaurants. The group also said it would pass out “Unhappy Meals” in Britain.
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