A former KFC restaurant could be transformed into what campaigners hope will become the world’s first “Chicken Empathy Museum”.
Animal rights group PETA wants to turn the vacant fast-food premises into an attraction dedicated to teaching visitors about chickens’ intelligence, emotions and family relationships.
The proposed museum would contain interactive displays about the birds’ communication and problem-solving abilities.
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Campaigners also want to exhibit equipment used in slaughterhouses and serve vegan food which they say would demonstrate that animals do not need to be killed for a meal.
Visitors could even meet PETA’s chicken mascot.
The organisation has written to Landwood Property Auctions asking whether the building’s owner would consider loaning or donating the property for educational use.
However, a spokesperson for Landwood Property Auctions told NeedToKnow that the company was no longer connected to the property.
It said: “We are no longer involved with the property, having sold it last summer.
“We’ve advised PETA of this and suggested they look on Land Registry if they want to track down the current owner.
PETA will therefore need to identify and approach the present owner before its museum plans can progress.
Under the proposals, the attraction would contain displays explaining chickens’ communication, problem-solving abilities and social bonds.
More graphic exhibits would include kill cones, shackles and other equipment used to slaughter birds.
Dawn Carr, PETA’s vice president of vegan projects, wrote: “Rather than seeing this site simply change hands, we hope its owner might consider allowing PETA to borrow the property – or donating it for educational purposes – so that we could create a Chicken Empathy Museum.
“Such an attraction would turn a building once associated with selling the parts of dead chickens into one that celebrates the hearts of live ones.”
The organisation said most people primarily associate chickens with food rather than living animals with their own characteristics.
Ms Carr added: “Most people know chickens only as ‘nuggets’, ‘wings’, or ‘fillets’, yet these remarkable birds are intelligent, inquisitive individuals with their own unique personalities.
“They can recognise dozens of other chickens, communicate through a sophisticated range of vocalisations, and even perform basic arithmetic.
“Mother hens talk to their chicks before they hatch, and the chicks begin communicating back from inside the egg.”
PETA said it does not currently operate any Chicken Empathy Museums and hopes the former restaurant could become the first.
Ms Carr added: “What better use for a former fried-chicken restaurant than a place dedicated to understanding – and respecting – the birds who have long paid the ultimate price for fast food?”
The former KFC is located on Lord Street in Fleetwood, Lancashire.
Historic auction particulars from Landwood described it as a double-fronted property formed from two adjoining two-storey retail units.
The building provides approximately 2,126 sq ft of space and previously had two main seating areas with room for up to 62 customers.
Dead chicks. (Jam Press/Peta UK)
The former listing warned that the property had been vacant for some time and that parts of it were in poor condition.
It was sold with a 999-year lease dating from 1 January, 1864.
Fleetwood councillor Mary Belshaw previously told the Blackpool Gazette that the proposal could attract visitors.
She said: “This sort of attraction is better than a closed-off building and might bring visitors in – it’s a very novel idea.”
KFC has been approached for comment.
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