In January, 7765 IDA supporters signed our alert asking their federal representatives to investigate an incident which revealed that horses and cows from the United States are being live-exported to foreign countries for slaughter. Help us follow-up with McDonald’s and other fast food restaurants to demand an end to this practice end.
As a recent example, one investigation unearthed compelling evidence that 2,253 cows and horses left the port of Wilmington, Delaware on July 16, 2014 on the livestock carrier Abou Karim III. It was confirmed that 168 Quarter Horse geldings, 1,816 pregnant heifers, and 539 Angus Bulls were sold to Russian importers. Read more about this investigation here.
US Horses and Cows are sold to Russian meat processors with ties to McDonald's and other US Fast Food Chains.
This specific investigation showed that the AZTX Cattle Company, a US company based in Hereford, Texas, sold the animals, although there is no mention of horses on the company's website. The investigation also revealed that Kaliningrad Meats, a meat processing company located in the Russian Federation, purchased the animals.
Kaliningrad Meats and Bryansk Meats are both divisions of Miratorg, a huge meat conglomerate with ties to US fast food restaurants, including McDonald's, Burger King, Carl's Jr., Shake Shack, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, and IKEA (in-store cafes). Miratorg's website states that it strives for "efficiency" and quantity in the producing and slaughtering of animals; mainly pigs, cows, and chickens, while there is no mention of animal welfare concerns or regulations guiding animals' miserable lives leading up to and including transport and slaughter.
If the horses and cattle survive their horrific journey, once they reach their destination in Russia, they often completely "vanish," while those animals who die during transport are simply thrown overboard. Read this article about mutilated, dead cows who washed up on beaches in Denmark and Sweden in December 2014.
Tell McDonald's and other fast food restaurants that you will not support fast food restaurants that do business with a meat industry company that sells US horses and cows to foreign countries, like Russia, with no regard for the welfare of these animals. Demand a response from these US fast food chains to explain whether they sell horse meat to the American public, and whether the flesh they are selling comes from United States animals that were live-exported for slaughter to Russia or other countries with minimal to non-existing animal protection laws.
Personalize and submit the form below to email your comments to (https://secure2.convio.net/ida/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=2732&autologin=true&AddInterest=1022):
- Jan Fields, President, McDonald's USA
- Board of Directors, McDonald's
- Scott Bergren, Pizza Hut President and CEO
- Daniel Schwartz, Burger King Chief Executive Officer
- Roger Eaton, Kentucky Fried Chicken President and Chief Executive Officer
- Mike Ward, President of IKEA USA
