Pamela gives poultry welfare a boost

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has sent a graphic video narrated by the blonde actress, along with a letter written by her, to the fast-food chain's operations in Hong Kong, where chickens are a favourite with local Chinese.

"Sadly the main ingredient (in KFC chickens) is cruelty," Anderson says in the video, adding that KFC raised more than 750 million chickens annually but treated them like machines, not animals.

"They are crammed by the tens of thousands into sheds," the star says in the video, which shows footage of chickens being dunked into vats of hot water while still conscious.

PETA is calling on consumers to boycott KFC until the company agrees to make some simple improvements in the way it treats animals, but it says that so far the company has done nothing to address the situation.

On the PETA website, Dr Adele Couglass, former animal welfare advisor to KFC is quoted as saying: "[KFC] never had any meetings. They never asked any advice, and then they touted to the press that they had this animal-welfare advisory committee. I felt like I was being used."

According to the KFC website, the company has the same animal welfare guidelines as the rest of its fast-food competitors.