November 1, 2001
Mr. Dennis Malamatinas
CEO
Burger King Corporation
17777 Old Cutler Road
Miami, FL 33157
Dear Mr. Malamatinas:
United Poultry Concerns supporters are alarmed at the fact that
Burger King outlets are offering children a toy called Silly Slammer
#5 Chirpy, a plush toy in the form of a bird that comes with
instructions to slam the toy bird to cause it to chirp. I am writing
in the hope that you will agree offering such a thing to
impressionable children is likely to cause serious problems and that
you will eliminate it from Burger King outlets and see to it that all
remaining stocks are destroyed.
The United States has a very significant cruelty-to-animals problem.
Recognizing that fact, many states' legislatures have been adding
felony provisions to their states' anticruelty statutes so that a
large majority of states now have such provisions. Increasing, also,
is the number of states making psychological counseling part of
sentencing in animal-cruelty cases; about one-third of the states
now do so. Research by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and
several independent scholars has established that serial killers and
a high percentage of other violent criminals learn to torture or kill
without caring by harming animals with impunity as children.
Police, SPCAs, teachers, and others are working hard to prevent
cruelty to animals.
Surely the Burger King Corporation does not wish to contribute to
violence against animals or against human beings in our society.
Yet encouraging children to learn behavior with a toy that can so
easily be transferred to living beings can hardly be expected to do
otherwise. Indeed, someone seeking to teach children to abuse
animals could hardly come up with a better plan than to teach them to
bash a toy animal to obtain a desired result. Countless children in
fact learn compassion by bonding with and caring for toy animals and
then shifting their nurturing capacities to real animals and to other
human beings-the opposite of what Silly Slammer #5 Chirpy asks
children to do.
Please write soon to let me know these ill-conceived toys are being
withdrawn from all Burger King outlets and are being destroyed. We
very much would like to be able to inform our supporters nationwide
that Burger King has done the right thing in this matter. I will be
glad to answer any questions you may have. Thank you for your
consideration, and I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
David J. Cantor
Correspondent
United Poultry Concerns
Alert Source: http://www.api4animals.org/doc.asp?ID=1113&print=y
Thank you. United Poultry Concerns. November 5, 2001
United Poultry Concerns, Inc.
PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405-0150
757-678-7875
FAX: 757-678-5070
www.upc-online.org
(Action Alert - Burger King Toy Promotes Cruelty Towards Animals )
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