In the Summer of 2016, I became employed with McDonald’s. This job is one that seemed completely unfitting to my friends and family for the fact that I am adamantly against animal cruelty, and McDonald's has a reputation of supporting terrible factory farms. Yet, I was in need of a summer job and unfortunately, McDonald’s was the only place hiring 16 year olds. With this, I decided to give it a go. My summer with this corporation was decent, but I constantly hated the fact that I was serving cooked animal corpses. I used this platform to inform my coworkers and friends of the horrors the chickens in McDonald’s supply chain face daily. Now, I want to take a more firm stand against animal cruelty.

Chickens account for 88% of the animal population raised and slaughtered for food in the United States. This figure includes 7.8 billion chickens killed every year. McDonald’s is the largest fast food corporation in the world and with this, they are responsible for the brutalization and slaughter of tens of billions of chickens each year. Broiler chickens raised for consumption of McDonald’s products live horrifying and pitiful lives. They are artificially bred to grow so large in such a short period of time that their legs cannot support their unnatural body size, thus crippling them for the duration of their lives.  Additionally, McDonald’s chickens often face organ failure leading to sudden death due to the genetic “enhancements” that have been made. These already suffering chickens are all packed into a small dark shed with thousands of other suffering chickens. They are not even allowed enough space to move around if they are even still capable. Throughout facing these unspeakable horrors, the chickens often end up covered in ammonia burns from living in their own waste. After this, the animals are, of course, slaughtered for nuggets.

These helpless animals are often forgotten due to the devious and deceptive ways of the animal agriculture industry. Slaughterhouses are often located in rural areas with inconspicuous and dull imaging on the buildings as to avoid customer suspicion. It has been made so that consumers can feel at peace with their decision to eat at certain chains such as McDonald’s because the real truth has been hidden. Yet, inside these facilities, nothing but torture and murder takes place. With this, I am asking McDonald’s to improve their animal welfare policy. Several other companies such as Starbucks, Panera, Aramark, Compass group, and Sodexo have realized the sheer horror of the lives of these animals and have committed to change. McDonald’s can and will do the same.

I will not forget these defenseless animals and I will not stand by while McDonald's allows chickens to be tortured. Please help me stand against McDonald’s animal cruelty and improve the lives of billions of animals nationwide by signing and sharing my petition. We can and will create change together!