Dalai Lama critical of PETA

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jun 26, 2004 | by Associated Press

NEW DELHI -- The office of the Dalai Lama said Friday that an animal rights group misrepresented the nature of a request by the spiritual leader that fast-food chain KFC not open an outlet in his homeland, Tibet.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, released a document Thursday from the Dalai Lama asking that the Louisville, Ky.- based restaurant chain "abandon its plan to open restaurants in Tibet."

But the Dalai Lama's heading on the document, "APPEAL," was changed to "Dear Mr. Novak" -- a reference to David Novak, chief executive of KFC's parent company, Yum! Brands Inc.

PETA then issued a statement saying the Dalai Lama had "dispatched a letter" to the company.

The rest of the text of the Dalai Lama's appeal was not changed.

"We strongly object to your changing the nature of the appeal without seeking our approval," the Dalai Lama's secretary, Tenzin Geyche Tethong, said in a letter faxed Friday to Ingrid Newkirk of PETA in Norfolk, Va.

Tethong said in the letter, made available to The Associated Press, that the Dalai Lama's office had "intentionally sent ... a general appeal," and had rejected a PETA request that a letter be addressed to Novak.

"It was always PETA's understanding that the Dalai Lama intended PETA to address his letter to the appropriate executive at KFC," PETA spokesman Michael McGraw said Friday in e-mail to the AP. "In addition, PETA has a long and very good relationship with the Dalai Lama."

Yum spokesman Jonathan Blum said the company has no current plans to enter Tibet.

"We did look into entering Tibet earlier in the year, but we decided not to move forward because it isn't economically feasible for us to do business there today," he said. "Maybe someday it will be less costly and we'll continue to explore this option at that time."