Grammy nominated singer songwriter Anoushka Shankar - daughter of the legendary sitar virtuoso and composer Ravi Shankar - has joined forces with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to call on KFC to improve the conditions on the chicken farms they use. In an open letter to Pete Bassi, chairman of KFC's parent company, Yum! Restaurants International, she urges the company to "eliminate such practices as scalding chickens to death in defeathering tanks and breeding and drugging birds so that they grow so large so fast that their leg bones break under their own weight".
She writes: "As the world's leading killer of chickens, KFC has the responsibility to take the lead in eliminating at least the very worst abuses, but to this date, KFC has done nothing to address them".
The letter launches a new campaign against KFC called 'Kentucky Fried Cruelty'. PETA explain: "Despite assurances made long ago by Senior Vice President Jonathan Blum that KFC would 'raise the bar' on animal welfare, the company refuses to eliminate the worst abuses. Chickens raised for food at KFC's supply farms are denied everything that they naturally need and desire."
More information about the campaign and Shankar's letter can be found at http://www.KentuckyFriedCruelty.com.