If KFC treated dogs and cats the way that it treats the nearly 800 million chickens who are killed each year for its restaurants, the company would be facing felony cruelty-to-animals charges. The birds endure crippling bone and joint problems from being bred to grow too large too quickly, overcrowded conditions, debeaking, and cruel handling before being sent to the slaughterhouse, where the methods used to kill them are inhumane.