CELEBRITIES TO MCDONALD’S: “I’M HATIN’ IT”

Ryan Gosling, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Deschanel, Alicia Silverstone, Maria Menounos, Kristin Bauer, Ed Begley, Jr., Wendie Malick, Bryan Adams and Steve-O Speak Out Against Fast Food Giant’s Cruel Treatment of Egg-Laying Hens

Hollywood, CA – Hollywood stars are crying foul over McDonald’s inhumane treatment of egg-laying hens after an undercover investigation exposed rampant cruelty to animals at factory farms supplying eggs for Egg McMuffins. In a letter fired off today to McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner, at the behest of the animal protection organization, Mercy For Animals, Ryan Gosling, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Deschanel, Alicia Silverstone, Maria Menounos, Kristin Bauer, Ed Begley, Jr., Wendie Malick, Bryan Adams and Steve-O wrote: “On behalf of compassionate people everywhere, we implore you to help end the needless suffering of these animals by adopting strict and meaningful animal welfare policies worldwide, including the commitment to prohibit the purchase of eggs produced by hens who spend their miserable lives crammed into tiny wire cages.”

Emily Deschanel

The appeal comes after hidden-camera video, shot at Sparboe Farms facilities in Iowa, Minnesota, and Colorado by an investigator with Mercy For Animals, revealed unconscionable cruelty. The footage shows hens crammed in tiny wire cages, dead hens left to rot in cages with birds still laying eggs for human consumption, and workers burning off the beaks of birds without painkillers, throwing them, breaking their necks, and swinging them by their legs. The investigation — which broke on ABC’s Good Morning America and 20/20 — prompted McDonald’s to cut ties with the factory farm. However, the company has failed to implement any meaningful animal welfare policies to actually address the main issue of concern: the inherently cruel practice of confining hens in tiny wire cages for their entire lives.

The letter points out:

While McDonald’s has already established a 100% cage-free purchasing policy in Europe, your U.S. restaurants continue to support egg factory farms that confine hens for most of their lives in cages so small they can’t even spread their wings. These poor birds never get to walk, run, perch, roost, dustbathe, build nests, see the sun, breathe fresh air, or do nearly anything that comes naturally to them. Common sense tells us that animals with legs and wings should be given the basic freedom to move.

Sadly, there is not a single federal law to protect hens from cruelty from the time they hatch to the time they are killed. While McDonald's brags about the "billions and billions served," millions of hens exploited for your restaurants are being grossly underserved. In fact, these animals are being abused in ways that could land your egg suppliers in jail, if dogs or cats were the victims.

The letter concludes:

It’s a good time for some great changes at McDonald’s. As the largest egg buyer in the entire country, McDonald’s has the power — and the moral responsibility — to ensure that the eggs in its Egg McMuffins don’t come from rotten egg suppliers.

Celebrities Speak Against NASA’s Monkey Radiation Experiments

Woody Harrelson, Zachary Quinto, Alicia Silverstone, James Cromwell, Allison Janney, Kristen Bell, Emily Deschanel and Elizabeth Perkins Join IDA’s Effort To Save Monkeys

San Rafael, Calif. – In Defense of Animals (IDA), an international animal protection organization with over 85,000 members, today released letters from celebrities opposed to NASA-funded experiments. The experiments, which NASA wants conducted at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), involve irradiating squirrel monkeys. IDA and the International Primate Protection League (IPPL), a South Carolina-based non-profit dedicated to protecting the world’s primates, filed a complaint about the experiments.

The celebrities signed on to the IDA-drafted letter to U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden, Jr., and BNL Director Dr. Samuel Aronson. Those who have signed to date are: Woody Harrelson, Zachary Quinto, Alicia Silverstone, James Cromwell, Allison Janney, Kristen Bell, Emily Deschanel, and Elizabeth Perkins.

NASA’s proposed experiments would inundate these tiny monkeys - only a foot tall – with one massive burst of gamma radiation equal to a 3-year journey to Mars and back. Since the 1950's, thousands of primates have been exposed to various dosages of radiation including radio frequency, microwave, X-ray, gamma, electron, proton, neutron and other particle radiation. Studies have already shown that gamma radiation can cause depressive behavior, immobility, hyperirritability, convulsions, vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, hair loss, open sores, skin hemorrhages, and even death.
Previous research has also proven that animals of different species – even of different strains of the same species – react differently to radiation, which calls into question the experiments’ scientific value in advancing protection for human astronauts.

NASA has already committed $1.75 million in taxpayer money to the experiments. NASA wants BNL - a lab run by the Department of Energy - to conduct the radiation portion of the experiments. BNL has not yet decided to proceed. The experiments are being reviewed by BNL's safety, science, and animal welfare committees.

Copies of the IDA/IPPL complaint and the celebrities’ letters are available upon request.