PETA protests Raising Cane’s opening in Goleta

Demonstrators from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals protested the new Raising Cane’s location on Hollister Avenue in Goleta on Oct. 12. 

The line for the Cane’s opening wrapped around the parking lot in the plaza, with some people having arrived the night prior. Olive Thompson / Daily Nexus

With more than a hundred attendees, voices of protesters from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) could be heard shouting. Six protesters stood on the sidewalk outside the parking lot holding signs and doing a physical demonstration, which involved one woman covered in fake blood shackled by the ankles while another protester was dressed as a butcher. 

According to PETA Senior Campaigner Mason Melito, this was intended to visually replicate the slaughter methods of some of the meat suppliers of Raising Cane’s. Melito said that PETA tries to attend all Raising Cane’s grand openings across the country, with the goal of spreading awareness of the living conditions for factory-farmed chickens and slaughterhouse practices, as well to get a vegan option on the menu. 

“We’ve had some success today; some people have come over to talk to us about our messages, and there have been cameras on us all morning,” Melito said. “The goal is to make people think before they eat: If you wouldn’t deep fry a dog then why is it ok to deep fry a chicken?”

The rest of the demonstrators were local volunteers, including Ana Papakhian, who said, “We are here for animals, people and our planet.” Similar protests have occurred at other openings around the country, including one at a new Cane’s location in Oregon a few weeks ago. 

For many, the protest did not have much of an effect on the festivities. The grand opening included a ribbon cutting ceremony, a raffle for passes to gain free Cane’s for a year, gifts for the first hundred purchases and more. Attendees could be seen dancing and smiling as the raffle tickets were drawn, and a big cheer went up as the doors opened about half an hour early. 

The line for opening wrapped around the parking lot in the plaza, with some people having arrived the night prior. At the front of the line were Dos Pueblos High School juniors Rex Blevins and Oliver Reynolds, who said they had been outside the restaurant since approximately 9 p.m. Sunday. 

Students from both UC Santa Barbara and local Goleta high schools said that the Cane’s opening will help to fill a gap in the community for affordable, convenient food options. Blevins, who was first in line and one of the 20 raffle winners, was excited about what the location would bring to the area. 

“It’ll be a really great hang-out spot, and we will have an option other than In-N-Out. I’m really excited for chicken,” Blevins said. 

The Hollister Village Plaza location is the first to open in the greater Santa Barbara area, with the nearest existing location nearly 50 miles away in Oxnard. UCSB students Kaitlin Lewis, a fourth-year sociology major, and Fatoumata Kéré, fourth-year communication major, explained that for students without cars, the existing fast food options in Goleta were inconvenient, so this opening was exciting.

“Most of the options are across the highway,” they said. “Having Cane’s here means there’s something easy for people to get with friends or while waiting for the bus.”

A version of this article appeared on p. 1 of the Oct. 15 print edition of the Daily Nexus.