PETA Urges Jackson County Jail to Feed Meatless Meals to Man Accused of Assault With a Chicken
PeTA Files
or: http://snipurl.com/3hbzc [www_peta_org]
PETA Urges Jackson County Jail to Feed Meatless Meals to Man Accused of
Assault With a Chicken
For Immediate Release:
June 30, 2008
Contact:
Ashley Byrne 757-622-7382
Jackson County, Mich. - This morning, PETA sent a letter to Jackson
County Jail Commander Dave Luce urging him to place alleged assailant
Frederick McKaney--who is accused of stabbing his mother with a fork and
hitting another woman over the head with a frozen chicken--on an
all-vegetarian diet.
PETA asserts that in addition to being healthy, cost-efficient, and easy
to prepare, vegetarian meals promote nonviolence.
"Jails that have experimented with serving inmates vegetarian meals
report a reduction in aggression," says PETA Vice President Tracy
Reiman. "It also seems like a good idea to keep McKaney away from
chickens in any form."
For more information, please visit PETA's Web site GoVeg.com.
PETA's letter to Commander Luce follows.
Dear Mr. Luce,
On behalf of PETA and our more than 2 million members and
supporters--including many thousands in Michigan--I am writing regarding
inmate Frederick McKaney. PETA has always said that eating animals
supports violence, but McKaney's alleged use of frozen chicken in an
assault has given new meaning to our point. We hope you will ensure that
McKaney does not harm chickens or any other animals from this moment on
by providing him with exclusively vegetarian meals.
Eating chickens, pigs, fish, and cows supports the well-documented
cruelty inherent in today's meat industry. Chickens and turkeys have
their throats cut while still conscious, and they are often scalded to
death in defeathering tanks. Pigs have their tails and testicles cut off
without any painkillers. When fish are dragged from the ocean depths,
they undergo excruciating decompression--causing their internal organs
to rupture--before they slowly suffocate on deck. Animals are made of
flesh, blood, and bone--just as we are. They have the same five senses
that we do and the same capacity to experience suffering and fear when
they are assaulted by human beings. Feeding bean burritos rather than
baby back ribs to inmates will go a long way toward ending the cycle of
violence.
Vegetarian meals are cost-efficient and easy to prepare. In addition,
evidence from prisons that have switched inmates to vegetarian diets
indicates that doing so might also reduce violence among inmates. We
would be happy to help you create meatless meal plans for McKaney--or
for your entire facility. Please contact me to let me know your
decision. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Tracy Reiman
Senior Vice President