WHEREAS, on its Web site, McDonald’s states that “treating animals with care and respect is an integral part of an overall quality assurance program that makes good business sense” and that “animals should be free from cruelty, abuse and neglect”; and WHEREAS,McDonald’s has already made commendable steps toward improving animal welfare; and WHEREAS, despite its commitment to animal welfare, McDonald’s continues to purchase chickens from suppliers that use the outdated method of electrical stunning, in which the birds’ legs are snapped into metal shackles and the birds are shocked with an electric current, have their throats slit, and are dropped …

Shareholders request that the Board of Directors issue a report to shareholders by October 2003, prepared at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information, reviewing McDonald’s animal welfare standards with the view to adopting and enforcing consistent animal welfare standards internationally. SUPPORTING STATEMENT: Our company’s farmed animal welfare practices in the U.S. and U.K. make McDonald’s a corporate leader in those countries. In its “Animal Welfare Guiding Principles,” our company states, “McDonald’s commitment to animal welfare is global … McDonald’s sets annual performance objectives to measure our improvement and will ensure our purchasing strategy is aligned with our commitment to animal …