PETA Activists Target Knox Co. Kids with Chicken Cards

PETA Activists Target Knox Co. Kids with Chicken Cards

January 28, 2004

By MAGGIE POTEAUX
6 News Anchor/Reporter

KNOX COUNTY (WATE) -- The animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is trying to shock some Knox County students out of eating chicken.

They used "Chicken Chumps" trading cards to get Northwest Middle Schoolers Wednesday to change their minds about eating chicken nuggets.

PETA members were outside the school after dismissal, handing out cards and showing video of chickens in factories and slaughter houses.

Three of the cards, "Cruel Kyle," "Tubby Tammy," "Sickly Sally" feature the cruelty and ill health effects that PETA says are associated with eating chicken.

A fourth card features "Feathered Friends," with facts about chickens that are killed for food.

A PETA press release says, "The backs of the cards warn kids that eating buckets of greasy KFC bird parts hurts chickens and can cause an array of unpleasant side effects, such as food poisoning and obesity. In recent studies of chickens sold in supermarkets nationwide, nearly half were contaminated with bacteria that can pose serious health risks, especially to children."

The cards are part of an international campaign by PETA to improve the treatment of the 750 million birds killed each year for Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants.

KFC has responded to PETA's claims with a national ad campaign, launched in fall 2003, saying chicken is part of a healthy diet.

6 News spoke with parents and students at Northwest Middle Wednesday. No one said they thought PETA acted inappropriately.