When discussing animals from the perspective of preserving their rights, one should take into account animals’ vulnerability to people. According to Hanna-West, human dominance is a key factor that involves appropriate housing, feeding, and even killing (122). Animals must not be intentionally abused and used as silent victims. The case of a donkey carrying a bomb during a conflict in the Middle East is a prime example of the disregard for such rights (Hanna-West 122). The inability of animals to fight back against violence is one of the main factors in favor of fighting for it.
The activities of animal rights activists have become a landmark event in the social environment. By using the KFC case as an example, Hanna-West lists some of the initiatives promoted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the organization referred to as PETA (121). She mentions humane methods of killing, keeping enough space for animals’ manifestations of instincts, elimination of forced growth, and some other rights (Hanna-West 121). These solutions are designed to humanize the activity of raising animals. Moreover, they should be seen as obligations but not preferred measures.
In the 2000s, KFC closely interacted with PETA due to the latter organization’s denunciations of KFC’s methods of keeping chickens. However, as Hanna-West highlights, KFC has never provided poultry in-house and purchased from private companies (120). The welfare of chickens became one of the company’s priorities after the public media outcry. Therefore, along with the Yam! Brands, KFC created a special system for catching, breeding, transporting, keeping, and killing chickens, calling it the KFC Poultry Welfare Guidelines and following it thoroughly (Hanna-West 126). This is indicative of the company’s concern for animal welfare.
Work Cited
Hanna-West, Sharon. Business Ethics: Cases, Issues & Stakeholders. 13th ed., McGraw-Hill Education, 2021.