Suited up in a chicken costume under the burning sun, with temperatures reaching 100 degrees, Kelsey Gidd was determined to inform the public about animal cruelty -- even if it meant suffering for herself.
"I represent the suffering of the chickens," said Gidd, a member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Gidd was protesting the chicken-breeding practices at one of the nation's most popular fast-food chains.
PETA held a protest June 22 in front of a KFC restaurant on North Bascom Road in San Jose. The event was intended to raise awareness of the methods used to kill chickens before they are served in KFC restaurants. PETA contends that the fast-food company's process is dirty and torturous for the birds.
"Chickens suffer broken legs and wings from being bred and fed a steady diet of drugs to make them top-heavy and from having their legs forced into shackles at slaughterhouses," fliers handed out at the protest said. "Their throats are slit and they are burned to death -- often while still conscious and able to feel pain."
PETA protestors also gave away handouts with pictures of deformed chickens alongside the details on how the animals are killed.
Gidd explained that her chicken suit was covered with dirt to illustrate how KFC chickens grow in unsanitary conditions. She sat in a wheelchair to represent the way most chickens are paralyzed before they are processed. Her beak was cut off so she would resemble the chickens that have their beaks removed before they are killed.
As Gidd was pushed across the four points of the busy intersection at North Bascom Road and Naglee Avenue, a small crowd of protesters, ranging from senior citizens to children, rallied her on.
The crowd grew as passing cars honked in support, while the abused chicken crossed the road.
Lindsay Rajt protested along the sidewalk with a small television hanging from a strap around her neck. The television showed the practices that chickens endure while they are processed for eventual consumption.
"The chickens are sometimes boiled alive," said Rajt, a campaign coordinator for International Grassroots Campaigns, a subgroup under PETA's umbrella.
On the other side of the road, KFC manager Francisco Higareda tried to figure out why the chicken protestors were so cross.
"It makes no sense to me," he said when asked his thoughts on the protest.
Higareda said the protest might have had an unintended effect.
"More people are coming in than before because they think that there's an event going on," he said.
KFC employee Rosaura Ucaent watched the protest, but said she didn't understand the cause.
"They are supposed to kill the animal," Ucaent said. "The chicken is killed so you can buy it and eat it here." The chickens "end up dying anyways."