No matter how you feel about hunting, Arby's latest marketing stunt will likely leave a bad taste in your mouth.
The fast food chain — slogan: “we've got the meats" — is now selling venison sandwiches at 3,300 of its stores and elk sandwiches in a handful more in an attempt to attract hunters and others with a taste for game meat.
Arby's is sourcing its game meat from farms in New Zealand where deer and elk are raised for slaughter. But the sale of imported game meat raises serious concerns among America's conservationists, animal welfare advocates, and even hunters.
"We really shouldn't be selling game animals for food," Dave Chadwick, executive director of the Montana Wildlife Federation, told NPR. "One of the real drivers of America's wildlife crisis in the 19th century was unregulated market hunting and the idea that big game animals were being shot and sold for food."
But Arby's marketing campaign isn't just a sour echo from the past — it could create serious problems in the here and now too.
Hunters and conservationists worry that farmed game animals will increase the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease and other illnesses to wildlife. Animal welfare advocates and many ethical hunters worry that game farms also encourage cruel and unethical canned hunting.
Add your name now and urge Arby's to stop selling deer and elk meat. Your signature today will help demonstrate the public opposition we will need to convince Arby's to end its irresponsible promotion.
