I- Rock XXII Bands Rock For Animal Rights By 'Signing Save the Chickens' Petition
Scribe, Black, Aftertaste, Half Step Down, and Others Team Up With petaDishoom to Fight Against Kentucky Fried Cruelty
-- What do you get when you put I-Rock's top rock bands together with petaDishoom, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India's Youth Division? A very loud statement of compassion for animals and absolutely no tolerance for the way more than 850 million chickens raised and killed for KFC every year are abused. That's why many of the biggest names at this year's huge Independence Rock XXII festival – including Afterburn, Panatella, Kryptos, Synaps, Easy Street, Undying Inc. and others – have signed petaDishoom's anti-KFC petition urging their fans to boycott KFC until the chicken chain stops its suppliers' worst abuses of chickens.
Why are these bands fed up with KFC? Chickens raised for KFC are bred and drugged to grow so fast that many become crippled under their own weight. Their sensitive beaks are cut off, and they are jam-packed into dark, filthy sheds. At abattoirs, many are still conscious when their throats are cut and they are dumped in scalding-hot defeathering tanks. A PETA US undercover investigation documented on videotape that workers at a US KFC Supplier of the Year were kicking, throwing and stomping on live birds and spray-painting their faces. Investigations of KFC suppliers around the world have also revealed crippled chickens who endure daily abuses and are forced to live in filth.
"KFC stands for cruelty in our book", says petaDishoom's Puja Joshi. "Every bird KFC puts in a box or bucket had a miserable life and a frightening death. Along with India's top rockers, we are asking consumers to boycott KFC until the company implements basic welfare standards."
The bands playing at I-Rock – including this year's headliner, Parikrama – have always shown their support for petaDishoom. Because the I-Rock XXII tour also includes Delhi and Bangalore, more than two dozen band members from all three cities have added their names to the petition.
For more information and to sign the petition, please visit www.petaDishoom.com.
Notes to Editor
PETA India, based in Mumbai, was launched in January 2000. PETA India operates under the simple principle that animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on or use for entertainment, while educating policymakers and the public about animal abuse and promoting an understanding of the right of all animals to be treated with respect.
PETA India focuses primarily on the areas in which the greatest numbers of animals suffer the most: in the food and leather industries, laboratories and the entertainment industry. PETA India’s investigative work, public education efforts, research, animal rescues, legislative work, special events, celebrity involvement and national media coverage have resulted in countless improvements to the quality of life for animals and have saved countless animals’ lives.