Under pressure from animal welfare activists, the president of Kentucky Fried Chicken has pledged to improve the lives and deaths of the 350 million chickens it serves in the US each year. In return, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) will stop sending protesters in chicken suits to KFC’s corporate headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky, and will pull back advertisements that had accused the fast-food chain of ‘‘Kentucky Fried Cruelty.’’ The agreement followed a meeting Wednesday between KFC president Cheryl Bachelder and PETA president Ingrid Newkirk. Under the deal, Kentucky Fried Chicken had promised to provide chickens with ‘‘mental and physical stimulation’’ ’ such as toys and perches; increase space allotted to each bird by 30 per cent; step up monitoring of poultry processing plants; and overhaul the slaughter system to ensure humane deaths. (LAT-WP)
