Meet the little girl who is taking on McDonald’s

Eleven-year-old Emily Gill, who is from Durham, has written a letter to McDonald’s regarding the conditions in which the poultry for their nuggets and burgers is reared.

The youngster had visited the firm’s UK headquarters on a recent visit to London, but was not happy with the response she received.

Now she is hoping bosses of the American-owned chain will take notice of her concerns.

Emily Gill

Emily said: “In December, I was part of a play that we put on especially for McDonald’s.

“The play was called Little Chick Bo and we wanted to show how McDonald’s really need to help their chickens because at the moment they are suffering.

“We invited McDonald’s but no-one turned up which I was disappointed about.”

Emily and her mother, Michelle Evans, subsequently joined The Humane League and during their visit to McDonald’s they delivered a recording of the play.

Emily said: “We were invited inside which was a bit crazy.

“Someone came and spoke to us and promised they would answer all of our questions by email if we wrote them down.

“So we went home and waited.

“But when they sent their reply they didn’t answer my questions.

“I was really disappointed again.”

McDonald's is under fire for the welfare of the chickens it uses

McDonald’s has been the subject of an international campaign by The Humane League demanding better treatment of their chickens, specifically, that they use of breeds of chickens who grow so fast their bodies cannot keep up.

The RSPCA recently a report showing how much they suffer in their short lives.

Emily said: “I wrote them another letter and I asked them to explain more clearly how they are going to help their chickens.

“And I asked them why they didn’t come to our show or let us know, and whether they had watched the recording we gave them.

“But they haven’t answered and it’s been nearly two months.

“I feel like they are just ignoring me now.”

When contacted by The Northern Echo, a spokeswoman said the firm looked at economic, environmental and ethical factors to raise standards.

She said: “After Emily came to our offices we responded to her via e-mail, to answer her questions and explain more about our commitment to improving chicken welfare.

“We are deeply committed to the health and welfare of all animals in our supply chain and know that our customers expect us to uphold high standards.

“Together with our approved suppliers, we work hard to focus on continuous improvement and have led the industry with positive moves on chicken welfare.

“Three years ago we made a progressive move to provide daylight provision and enrichment for all birds in our supply chain for all chicken served in our UK and Irish restaurants, providing pecking objects and perches to encourage the birds to express their natural behaviours.

“While we are proud of the work we have done so far, we recognise that there is more that we can do and we are committed to sourcing chicken with improved welfare outcomes.”