PETA's 'Hell on Wheels' rolls into Amarillo, protesting chicken consumption

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) brought its "Hell on Wheels" protest vehicle to Amarillo as a part of its nationwide campaign to bring awareness to chicken mistreatment. The squawking chicken truck, which also depicted imagery of chickens crammed into crates on the way to the slaughter house, traveled through Amarillo Friday and Saturday and was stationed outside various chicken diners.

"PETA's Hell on Wheels traveling chicken truck is making people stop for just a moment to think about the suffering that nearly 10 billion chickens go through every year before they go through grocery shore shelves and restaurant menus," said Amber Canavan, manager of campaigns at PETA.

The life-sized chicken transport truck included an actual recording of sounds of the birds' cries, along with subliminal messaging every 10 seconds suggesting people go vegan. The truck began its campaign in Buffalo, New York; after Amarillo, it will travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico, Arizona and Southern California to raise awareness of the national mistreatment of chicken livestock before slaughter.

According to PETA, the common life of a chicken before it's ready for consumption includes being crammed into crates, disallowing them to stand up properly, trucked through extreme weather with no food, water or rest. Upon arrival at the slaughter house, the chickens are dunked through an electrified bath before they're killed and processed through a hot feather removal tank. Canavan said sometimes the chickens are not dead but only knocked unconscious before entering these conditions, due to how fast the process is run on machines.

With this campaign, PETA hopes to provoke at the very least a thought of the mistreatment, along with some commitment to help change regulations of how chickens are sourced, or cut out the cruelty altogether by having people go vegan.

"We want people to decide that they don't want to support that suffering that you see on the chicken truck," Canavan said. "We are asking people, the next time they are at the grocery store and they see the chicken parts on a piece of Styrofoam under plastic, to think of those chickens that are on that truck."

While in Amarillo, the truck drove through the Route 66 Historic District, around the Potter County Courts Building, restaurants including Texas Chicken Bowl, Golden Chick, Chicken Express, Raising Cane's, Chick Fil A and others, offering flyers and trying to share their message that change is needed.

PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said in a news release: “Behind every barbecued wing or bucket of fried chicken is a once-living, sensitive individual who was crammed onto a truck for a terrifying, miserable journey to their death. ... PETA’s ‘Hell on Wheels’ truck is an appeal to anyone who eats chicken to remember that the meat industry is cruel to birds and that the kindest meal is a vegan one.”

For more information and chicken-free recipes, visit peta.org .

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: PETA protests chicken consumption in Amarillo with 'Hell on Wheels'