After suffering a five-year roasting by animal-rights activists, KFC Canada is promising improved welfare for the chickens it buys for its fast-food outlets in exchange for an end to a boycott campaign that will continue in the United States and elsewhere.
The Canadian Press has learned that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has agreed to call off its Canadian "Kentucky Fried Cruelty" campaign, which featured high-profile actress Pamela Anderson among others, in the wake of a signed agreement with the company.
KFC Canada is operated by Vaughan, Ont.-based Priszm Income Fund.
Among other things, the deal obliges KFC Canada to begin buying from suppliers who use gas to kill their chickens painlessly, considered to be the least cruel method.
The company is also promising to insist on other "animal-welfare friendly" measures relating to how the birds are kept, including a maximum on crowding and phasing out non-essential growth-hormones and other drugs.
Customers of the popular restaurant chain will also be able to order a vegan "chicken" item, according to the deal that was reached after almost seven months of at-times "sticky" closed-door negotiations.