Chicken in a Basket

Two protestors from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — one dressed as a giant chicken with broken wings and legs — stationed themselves outside the Kentucky Fried Chicken on Shelburne Road Monday to urge lunchtime customers to boycott the chain. The website http://www.kentuckyfriedcruelty.com reports that PETA began complaining of animal rights abuses at KFC’s suppliers in January 2003. The group claims that KFC suppliers scald the birds alive, and breed and drug them to enlarge their breasts. Their legs often break under the weight — hence the big chicken in a wheelchair. Campaign coordinator Lindsay Rajt handed out flyers and free DVDs — featuring foul KFC fowl footage narrated by Pamela Anderson and Reverend Al Sharpton — to drivers who stopped to chat. The manager of the Burlington KFC refused to comment on the allegations, but the restaurant chain’s website says PETA is “unfairly singling out” the Colonel’s company in a campaign of “deceit, duplicity and terrorism.”