Is the bucket half empty or half full?

Protestors gather in front of the KFC outlet on Algonquin Avenue Saturday. Photo by Bill Tremblay.
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Nipissing University’s Social Action Committee gathered in front of KFC on Algonquin Avenue today to protest cruelty to chickens.

Roughly a dozen people held signs reading “Be consumer conscious,” "Unnecessary cruelty,” and “Boycott KFC.”

The group also handed out pamphlets provided by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

The committee’s vice president Holly Amber Ledoux explained that cruelty to the chickens is unnecessary.

“KFC uses the oldest methods to farm their chickens and the only reason for it is to make more money,” Ledoux said.

“The chicken KFC serves “is bad for us,” she added.

“It is genetically engineered and pumped full of antibiotics that get passed on in the meat,” Ledoux said.

The chickens have their beaks cut off, are boiled alive, live in over-crowded cages and have their legs broken from being overweight, one of the protestors explained.

“This is an attack on the corporation KFC, not the actual KFC in North Bay or whoever owns it,” Ledoux said.

The protest lasted for about an hour and a half and attracted positive and negative attention.

While many people passing by honked in support of the protest, one KFC customer asked the group why they were protesting chicken, when there are more important issues like poverty and cruelty to human beings.

“Why don’t they protest for endangered species? Then I’d be out there with them,” the assistant manager at KFC said.

“All of our chicken is ordered from Maple Leaf and is the same chicken that you would find in any grocery store, so why aren’t they there protesting”

KFC Canada says that all of their chickens are governed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).