Chipotle and PETA clash over chicken killing method

Chipotle Mexican Grill prides itself on its enlightened treatment of animals. On its drink cups, the fast-casual restaurant chain praises animal rights advocates who call for a more humane way of turning chickens, cows and pigs into burritos.

But Chipotle now finds itself in an awkward position: The company is at odds with the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, one of the most outspoken animal rights groups.

PETA placed a resolution on Chipotle's proxy for its 2008 annual meeting this spring that encourages the company to use suppliers that employ what PETA calls a less cruel method of chicken slaughter.

The technique, called controlled-atmosphere killing, exposes birds to gases that put them to sleep.

Chipotle last month unsuccessfully petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission to strike the proposal, arguing PETA wants to micromanage the company's business operations and interfere with supplier relations.

The SEC, in a three-sentence letter dated Feb. 20, said "we are unable to concur" with Chipotle's view that the company may exclude the proposal.

Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold said the company continues to study controlled-atmosphere killing but that there aren't enough suppliers using the method to meet the company's needs.

However, he said several of the company's suppliers are looking at the method "very seriously." Arnold also said "the jury is still out" as to whether controlled-atmosphere killing is significantly more humane than the current method of electrical immobilization.

"While we're looking at CAK and continue to, in many ways articulating a preference at this stage would be little more than lip service," Arnold said.

PETA has filed dozens of shareholder resolutions in recent years with companies ranging from supermarkets to family dining chains asking them to give preference to suppliers that use controlled-atmosphere killing. Nearly half of the companies petition the SEC to block the proposals, usually without success, said Matt Prescott, manager of PETA's factory farming campaigns. But Prescott said the group was surprised to meet resistance from Chipotle.

Temple Grandin, an associate professor of animal sciences at Colorado State University who works on how to improve standards in slaughterhouses, said that controlled-atmosphere killing in theory is more humane. But when the method was first tested in the United States years ago, it turned out to be "an absolute crashing failure" with some birds convulsing so violently that they broke their wings, Grandin said.

The practice has since been improved and is used in Europe, but there's only one chicken supplier in the United States, NBA Poultry in Nebraska, that uses the method.

"Five years down the line" the practice is going to be a lot more common, Grandin said. But for now, most suppliers want to make sure that all the kinks are worked out before switching over.

Chipotle has long taken a stand against traditional factory farming practices like using antibiotics and hormones, and the company serves more naturally raised meat than other restaurant providers.

Chipotle is credited with helping spur the growth of family-run pig farms by paying them a fair price for their pork, and it refuses to buy pork from any producer that uses gestation crates. The metal crates, used to confine pregnant sows, are so small the pigs can't turn around.

"When it comes to animal welfare, Chipotle is doing better than its competitors, with the gestation crates being the most prominent, but that's not to say that it couldn't make improvements," said Paul Shapiro, senior director of the Factory Farms Campaign for the Humane Society of the U.S. The group also encourages a move toward the gas-based killing method for poultry.

Contact Joyzelle Davis at davisj(at)RockyMountainNews.com. For more stories visit scrippsnews.com