Photos: Finalists Revealed in PETA’s First-Ever ‘Best Chicken’ Competition
Photos: Finalists Revealed in PETA’s First-Ever ‘Best Chicken’ Competition
London – Eight feathery finalists have been chosen in PETA’s first-ever “Best Chicken” competition – and charismatic chickens from Warwickshire, Belfast, and several cities in between are at the top of the pecking order. Voting is now open to public to help determine the winner, who will be announced by March 31.
The finalists include Bellatrix, a spirited chicken who was rescued from life on a factory farm; Autumn, an ex-battery hen who loves trying new things and exploring the grounds of her forever home; Hopper, a resilient bird who was saved from a farmer who was about to send her to slaughter due a leg injury; Sky, a hen who endured eighteen months in a cage in the egg industry before being re-homed; and Henniepops, who was liberated from a “depopulating” farm – an industry term to describe when farmers get rid of the birds who are no longer deemed profitable.
“This competition celebrates unique, clever chickens and the guardians who keep them safe, happy, and loved,” says PETA Vice President of Programmes Elisa Allen. “PETA encourages anyone who’s touched by these birds’ stories and sweet personalities to think twice about eating any other chickens and stands ready to help everyone give vegan eating a go.”
Rounding out the finalists are Lucille from Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire; Henrietta from Banstead, Surrey; and Doreen from Needham Market, Suffolk. For photos and additional information about each finalist, please click here.
The winning chicken will receive toys and treats – and the winner’s guardian will receive a prize pack that includes a T-shirt, a vegan cookbook, and more (plus bragging rights, of course). PETA will choose the winner based on several factors, including vote count.
Chickens can recognize the faces of more than 100 other chickens; communicate with at least 24 unique vocalisations; establish complex social hierarchies; and roost together companionably. Yet chickens killed for their flesh are crammed into filthy sheds, where they’re forced to live in their own waste – and the runoff from these operations pollutes the environment and poisons local wildlife. At abattoirs, chickens’ throats are often cut while they’re still conscious, and many are scalded to death in de-feathering tanks.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” – opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow the group on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Contact:
Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]
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