Pamela Anderson protests KFC 'cruel' breast fixation in Vietnam

Jan 11, 2006, 9:50 GMT

Hanoi - Actress Pamela Anderson wants the world to know that she's opposed to unnaturally large breasts - on chickens.

The bosomy celebrity this week sent a letter to the chief of operations for the fast-food chain KFC complaining about the farming and slaughtering practices of the company's suppliers in Vietnam, according to a press release from People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals.

Anderson protested the mechanized slaughtering process - which she said makes chickens suffer needlessly through electric shock and scalding water - but also farms' selective breeding for birds that have the large breasts consumers love.

'Chickens who are raised for KFC are bred and drugged to grow so large so quickly that many become crippled under their own weight,' Anderson wrote to Pornchai Thratum, head of the 17 KFC outlets in Vietnam.

The former 'Baywatch' star says over-sized chicken breasts are no laughing matter - often, the top-heavy chickens' legs break under the strain and they are left to suffer and die crammed in small pens with thousands of birds.

Anderson has written similar letters to KFC operations around the world as part of her work with PETA. She has also narrated a graphic video showing farming and slaughtering practices worldwide, in which Anderson says KFC's 'secret ingredient is cruelty.'

Executives at KFC's offices in Vietnam were unavailable for comment on the letter and video, although the company says it does not practice cruelty.

A PETA spokesman said Wednesday that Vietnam was chosen as the target for Anderson's letter because KFC is expanding quickly in the southeast Asian country.