Let the Chicken Star Search Begin!

PETA Launches First-Ever Contest Aimed at Celebrating Companion Chickens

For Immediate Release:
May 28, 2019

Contact:
Brooke Rossi 202-483-7382

Do you have a chicken who rules your roost? Does he or she have what it takes to be a celebrity? Starting today, PETA’s first-ever “Make Your Chicken a Star” competition is open for submissions from guardians of companion chickens. The new contest seeks to showcase these animals’ unique personalities, special skills, adorable habits, and overall cuteness.

The winning chicken will be featured in a PETA-produced video and receive a gift basket stuffed with toys and treats—and the winner’s guardian will receive a prize pack that includes a T-shirt, a vegan cookbook, and more (plus bragging rights, of course).

“Each chicken is an individual who might enjoy sunbathing, have a favorite place to nap, or show a little sass,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s new contest aims to celebrate these interesting and wonderful birds and the guardians who provide them with a loving home.”

Although chickens feel pain and fear—just as dogs, cats, and humans do—not a single federal law protects them from abuse. Most of the 9 billion chickens killed for food every year spend their entire life in a filthy shed before being trucked to a slaughterhouse where their throat is slit. In the egg industry, each hen is confined to a space no bigger than an iPad, and part of their beak is sliced off with a hot blade—and without any pain relief—in order to prevent them from pecking each other out of stress and frustration.

Entrants must be U.S. residents and guardians of chickens who live as animal companions, and a video submission is required. The entry round ends on September 13. On September 23, PETA will announce the 10 finalists—to be determined by a PETA panel—and voting will open to the public to help determine the winner, who will be revealed on October 21. The group will make its choice based on several factors, including vote count. See the full contest details here.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.