September 13, 2001
		Wendy's Cuts Back On Animal Abuse Under Pressure from PETA. After a two-month-long campaign to get Wendy's to tighten their animal treatment standards, PETA has announced that the fast-food giant has pledged to sign on to some basic animal welfare commitments. Following McDonald's and Burger King, Wendy's assured PETA that it would bolster oversight of its suppliers and improved treatment of animals before and during slaughter. Due to concerns about their corporate image, none of the fast-food chains will admit that pressure from the animal rights group helped sway their decision. Burger King claimed that they adopted the standards because it's new CEO was ready for the change; McDonald's and Wendy's claimed that the new standards were already underway when PETA began their boycott. "To give them credit is a gross exaggeration," says Denny Lynch, a Wendy's spokesperson, saying that the boycott didn't affect sales at all. Public relations experts say that it was good business for Wendy's to cave to PETA's demands. "Anything that reflects negatively on a brand is bad for the brand," says John Lister, chairman of Lister-Butler Consulting. "PETA's on the winning ground here. Few people object to better treatment of animals." PETA said that the Ohio-based Wendy's International Inc. agreed to eight improved standards, including the request to stop purchasing from suppliers who engage in the cruel forced molting practice. Some of the guidelines Wendy's has agreed to are: * Chicken suppliers must give egg-laying hens a minimum of 72 square inches of cage space * Conduct unannounced inspections of its slaughterhouses and sanction those facilities that fail the inspections * Work to develop alternative housing structures for sows * Immediately apply all the agreed upon standards to it's Canadian operations "There's no escaping the fact that every burger and chicken sandwich means that animals are being hurt and killed, but the big three - Wendy's, McDonald's and Burger King - have taken a big bite out of the worst cruelties," says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. "Consumers don't want blatant animal abuse between the buns." Bruce Friedrich, PETA's campaign coordinator, says that they will likely target Wal-Mart next. Wal-Mart spokesman Tom Williams says that the animal products it sells are made "according to accepted industry standards."