Chicken-Suited Wiltshire Teen Wins PETA Award

For Immediate Release:

22 November 2012

Contact:

Ben Williamson +44 (0)20 7837 6327, ext 229; [email protected]

Westwood, Wiltshire – Wiltshire residents have been treated to a unique sight for the past several weekends: a giant “chicken” who stands outside a KFC in a Trowbridge retail park with a sign that reads, “Boycott KFC Cruelty”. The man behind the chicken mask? Sixteen-year-old Westwood resident and vegetarian Olly Tyler, whose tireless, creative efforts to promote kindness to chickens have now won him a Compassionate Teen Award from PETA.

“It takes dedication and courage to publicly protest the abuse of animals raised on factory farms day  – and when you add a chicken costume into the mix, that goes double”, says PETA UK Associate Director Mimi Bekhechi. “PETA is certain that Olly’s actions will inspire others to adopt a more compassionate diet.”

Chickens on factory farms are forced to spend their lives crammed with tens of thousands of other birds into dark sheds that stink of ammonia. The ends of young chickens’ sensitive beaks are cut off with an infra-red laser in an attempt to stop the frustrated birds from pecking at one another. They are dosed with antibiotics and bred to grow so large so fast that many of them become crippled under their own weight and suffer from organ failure. As young as 42 days old, they reach “slaughter weight” and are killed for their flesh.

Tyler is planning a Christmas protest between 10 am and 5 pm on 22 and 23 December.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.

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