Help Secure Basic Protection for Billions of Birds: Sign the Petition for Poultry

It's time to close a gaping loophole that has brought unnecessary suffering to billions of chickens, turkeys, ducks, and other birds who are slaughtered for food. To help end this staggering problem, The HSUS is circulating a petition calling upon Congress to amend the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA) to specifically state that birds are included in its provisions.

Passed in 1958, the HMSA stipulates that livestock be rendered insensible to pain before they are shackled and killed in slaughter plants. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) does not consider birds to be livestock, therefore exempting them from the HMSA's modest protection.

As a result of the USDA policy, processors continue to slaughter billions of birds annually using such inhumane methods as shackling them upside-down, electrically stunning them into paralysis (but not unconsciousness), and sometimes even drowning them in tanks of scalding water—all while countless birds are fully conscious.

Take Action!

Sign our Petition for Poultry and urge the USDA to protect the nine billion birds killed each year for food from the worst abuses.

And tragically, sadistic slaughterhouse cruelty is also a serious problem. For example, an undercover investigation at a West Virginia Pilgrim's Pride slaughterhouse revealed workers stomping live chickens and hurling them into concrete walls.

Mimi Brody, director of federal affairs for The HSUS, states, "The Petition for Poultry, demonstrates to Congressmembers that their constituents support explicit inclusion of birds in the HMSA—and oppose the shocking cruelty that billions of animals endure during slaughter each year."

To date, more than 140,000 people have signed the petition. The incredible response shows that people across the country demand that animals raised for food deserve better than the cruelty they currently endure.

With Corporations and Restaurants

The HSUS actively works with corporate retailers and restaurants to encourage them to switch to less inhumane methods of slaughter. Bon Appetit Management Company, Safeway, Wolfgang Puck, Burger King, Carl's Jr. and Hardee's all have purchasing preferences for chicken meat from facilities that use these methods.

What You Can Do

Sign the Petition for Poultry and pass it along to friends and relatives.

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