March 13, 2000

 

Mike Quinlan, Chief Executive Officer
McDonald's Corporation
1 Kroc Drive
Oak Brook, IL 60523

Dear Mr. Quinlan:

I am writing to you as an animal lover and human being to ask that you please implement changes in the treatment of the "food animals" that McDonald’s slaughters.

Based on the court decision in England and significant evidence that the animals killed for consumption by McDonald’s customers are treated in a despicable, wholly torturous manner, you must put a stop to the current practices. If animals must be killed, common decency and basic moral values dictate that they live and die in the most humane way possible. Simple changes could drastically improve the pathetic lives of these innocent creatures who deserve to live and die without excruciating physical and mental trauma.

  1. Give chickens at least one and one-half square feet of living space, as recommended by the USDA.

    Anything less is outright cruelty.
  2. Stop selling eggs from factory-farmed hens.

    The "battery cage" system used by suppliers for McDonald's has been outlawed in Europe for a good reason – it is cruel and unhygienic.
  3. Require improved standards for chicken transport and slaughter.

    The horrors involved in the current systems of transport and slaughter are nauseatingly cruel.
  4. Purchase pigs only from farms that provide their breeding sows with room to move around outdoors, and which do not confine them indoors in cement cells, unable to turn around.

    As confirmed by scientists and other experts, pigs are intelligent sociable animals and to confine them as is now done is indescribably horrific. A mother of any species deserves the ability to birth and nurture her young with decency and free from pain.
  5. Include a vegetarian burger at all McDonald's USA restaurants.

    A humane alternative to meat would be a welcome addition for those of us who must accompanying their carnivorous spouses to your restaurants, and to your customers seeking a healthier lifestyle with the convenience of fast food.
  6. Implement policies to insure that animals sent for skinning are actually unconscious.

The alternative is too horrendous to think about.

Thank you for your consideration of these important matters. I hope that your conscience and heart, and not your pocket book, will guide your decisions in the future.


Sincerely,




Christina J. Johnson

112 Quincy Avenue

Long Beach, CA 90803

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