I am writing to ask you to please use your position as the head of KFC's operations in Korea to help make some much-needed improvements in the lives of chickens before they end up in buckets at one of the more than 180 KFC restaurants in Korea.

In light of current concerns over avian flu, it is up to corporations such as KFC to recognize the part they play in creating such crises. Experts the world over have pointed to factory farming practices as one of the causes of avian flu.

Investigations by my friends at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have found that chickens who are raised for KFC are bred and drugged to grow so large so quickly that many become crippled under their own weight. They are gathered for slaughter in a way that often breaks their wings and legs, and at the slaughterhouse, millions are dunked into tanks of scalding-hot water while they are still conscious.

Additionally, baby chicks often have their beaks cut off with a hot blade — without the use of any painkillers. They are constantly starved because they're bred to grow so quickly that they would die if they were allowed to eat even a normal amount of food.

At one KFC supplier slaughterhouse, PETA filmed workers who were throwing live chickens against a wall, kicking them across the room, and stomping them to death. This cruelty could be stopped if KFC's executives would adopt PETA's simple four-point plan for improving animal welfare, but the company hasn't agreed to do that.

I'm sure you agree that animals should not be abused —whether they're cats or dogs or chickens — and that stopping this abuse should be your number one priority, for the sake of the birds and your customers. Please make a quick phone call to your contact at Yum! headquarters and let him or her know that you are one of the many KFC employees who hope that the company will improve its treatment of chickens.

If you'd like to become more involved in PETA's efforts, please contact Jason Baker, PETA's Asia-Pacific director, at JasonB@peta.org. He will be happy to keep your discussions confidential if you prefer.

Regarding Pamela Anderson's protest letter to KFC Korea, PETA's campaign coordinator Andrew Butler called The Seoul Times in person from Manila to speak out against KFC's inhumane treatment of chickens.

"To get KFC to make changes in the way they raise and salughter chickens for their restaurants," said Andrew Butler. "This is part of an international campaign." Mr. Butler is norbally based in Hong Kong.

"KFC breeds birds to grow so large so quickly that many of them suffer from crippling leg deformity, said Butler. "Many of the animals are still fully conscious when they have their throat slit."

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