not pigeons, but poultry emergency!!!

[critterlover2]

Dear members,

I am sorry this is not pigeon related, but I know there are many of us that also love poultry. I came upon this post on the poultry site I visit daily. These poor hens desperately need help...if there is anyone here near this place in Florida????

Sending positive thoughts out east,
Terri

We have been here before folks, I was just contacted by a friend for help. An egg farm in Florida went bankrupt in Jan. abandoned the farm leaving the fowl with many of the 180,000 in cages. Apparently water was left on but no food. About 2 weeks ago this ghastly event was discoverd and 20,000 are dead. It is planned to begin putting down the remainder of the survivors this evening. We are appealing to any that are in the Florida area of,

1-75 Trilby Fla.
North Eastern Border of Paseo County

To Join in the attempts to rescue the remaining.

You can in an effort to stop this decesion join Susie by calling,

DR. Lee Coffman at 1-850-410-0910 Department of AG.
and appeal showing your support and willingness to come to the rescue.

If your are in or around the area and would like to coordinate your efforts with Susie please contact here at,

fowlfriends90@hotmail.com

She will be leaving this afternooon in attempts to resuce about 100 she sure could use a hand and support in this endevor.

You may contact me to relay messages if you cannot get ahold of her at,

Domestic91056@aol.com

Please we have seen what can be done in attempted rescues.

Deb

[lukekerttu]

try contacting peta tell them wut is happening they might help they are all for saving animals i would gladly take a couple but i already have 2 cats 14 gerbils one parakeet soory my mom said no more pets

------------------
luke

[PigeonFosterMom]

Have you tried contacting Farm Sanctuary? You can go to their website at farmsanctuary.org.

Gretchen

[raynjudy]

Terri:

Sweetheart, check your email...



I'm gone as of now.

--Ray

[raynjudy]

These are people of action. It is an honor to share a planet with them. I strongly suggest that everybody watch PBS', "The Natural History Of The Chicken". One of the things I liked about "The Lion King" was the respect for nature and the whole circle of life thingy. When told to respect the antelope, the little one replies, "But we eat the antelope!" The sage old lion then explains, that the antelope eat the grass; we eat the antelope; then we become the grass. There is a reverence and a respect there. Yes, we should even respect our food, and in the case of an animal, the sacrifice it made.

So where the hell is that respect on this corporate egg farm?

Thus far, here is what transpired:

*****

Heads Up:

This appeared on Pigeon-Talk ( www.pigeons.com ).

I'm running late for a weekend commitment out of town. Any help you can offer might make a world of difference to some of these poor souls.

--Ray

*****

I am sorry this is not pigeon related, but I know there are many of us that also love poultry. I came upon this post on the poultry site I visit daily. These poor hens desperately need help...if there is anyone here near this place in Florida????
Sending positive thoughts out east,

Terri

*****

We have been here before folks, I was just contacted by a friend for help. An egg farm in Florida went bankrupt in Jan. abandoned the farm leaving the fowl with many of the 180,000 in cages. Apparently water was left on but no food. About 2 weeks ago this ghastly event was discoverd and 20,000 are dead. It is planned to begin putting down the remainder of the survivors this evening. We are appealing to any that are in the Florida area of,
1-75 Trilby Fla.
North Eastern Border of Paseo County
To Join in the attempts to rescue the remaining.
You can in an effort to stop this decesion join Susie by calling,
DR. Lee Coffman at 1-850-410-0910 Department of AG.
and appeal showing your support and willingness to come to the rescue.
If your are in or around the area and would like to coordinate your efforts with Susie please contact here at,
fowlfriends90@hotmail.com
She will be leaving this afternooon in attempts to resuce about 100 she sure could use a hand and support in this endevor.
You may contact me to relay messages if you cannot get ahold of her at,
Domestic91056@aol.com
Please we have seen what can be done in attempted rescues.

Deb

*****

Hi Terri or Ray,

I called Farm Sanctuary. They want a fax of the info you just posted (I can't do it).
Fax the article or post if that's all that's available, and any other information to 530-865-4622 attn Karen , asap. They want to see if that is the one their NY office is already aware of, or if it is a new case.

Marian

*****

Hi Marian,
I know your post about faxing the chicken info was
directed to Terri but in the interest of seeing that it
got sent, I also faxed it to the number you provided.
How horrible for those thousands and thousands of
chickens.

Terry Whatley

*****

Thanks to Ray for cross posting this info, and to Marian for the number to the Farm Sanctuary, and Terry for faxing the info, (I, too have no means of faxing)
Just finished catching up the the latest on these poor little creatures, I can not imagine how incredibly horrible this is for them. It just can't be put into words at this time (nice ones that anyway)
There is quite a bit of info, too much to copy here. Apparently the court has ordered no rescue of these hens and gave the order to gas all that are still living!! http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Business/...0307_1682.html http://www.nevadatea.com/chicken.html
Here is where more of todays events can be found.
Thanks for caring, I wish this world was filled with caring folks like youselves, I count myself as lucky to be amongst your company.

Terri

*****

Thanks Terry! I knew you'd be first on it.

Marian

*****

I am pleased and happy to say, we are getting chickens out of there. Almost 500 so far. They are letting in one or two people from rescue groups who are coordinating the removal of the chickens. So Yes, some are getting out to happier and better places. I am taking some myself.
Is there any one on this list that would like to take some. They are hens, they are not in good shape and are for PETS ONLY. They have been through Hell and back and we do not want to give them to some one else just to be eaten.
Contact me direct if you are interested luckypig@infi.net

Nancy & Emma Louise

*****

Here is one news article about the chickens ....

this is from the St Petersburg TImes in FLorida

Company's bankruptcy starves chickens at abandoned egg farm
St. Petersburg Times ; St. Petersburg, Fla.; Mar 7, 2002; CHASE SQUIRES;
Abstract:
[Lee Coffman]'s department and the Poultry Federation began feeding the starving chickens on Tuesday, but Coffman and others said birds would be destroyed.
Attorneys for the court-appointed trustee, Lakeland accountant Andrea Bauman, said she was handed control of the farm late Thursday and immediately began investigating. When Bauman learned the chickens had not been fed, she and her team contacted state officials and began trying to secure enough food for 200,000 birds, attorney Chad Bowen said.
Another of Bauman's attorneys, David Jennis, said Bauman apparently was given control when bankruptcy court learned the chickens had not been fed. It was her first priority to get food to the birds, Jennis said.
Full Text:
Copyright Times Publishing Co. Mar 7, 2002
Over and over on Wednesday, a yellow front-end loader dug into a pile of white feathers, scooped up countless carcasses and chugged off to a burial pit at a failed egg farm where as many as 20,000 birds starved over the past two weeks.The scene could go on for days, a state Department of Agriculture official said Wednesday. When the dead birds are removed, contractors will be hired to euthanize the farm's remaining 180,000 birds, which are virtually worthless to other farmers, officials said.In all, about 200,000 chickens will likely be destroyed in the wake of egg producer Cypress Foods' bankruptcy.The 80-acre egg farm located between U.S. 98 and U.S. 301 north of Trilby Road was deserted about two weeks ago after Winter Haven- based Cypress Foods filed for bankruptcy in January, according to investigators and the Florida Poultry Federation.Dr. Lee Coffman, state veterinarian and director of the Department of Agriculture's Division of Animal Industry, said it's unlikely the state will file charges against anyone because the case is so tangled in court."The problem here, especially when you have a receivership, is how do you sort it out? How can you get into a court of law and determine who was responsible?" Coffman said.Coffman said an accurate count is difficult, but at least 10,000 chickens already are dead, and that could be half the true number. Pasco County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jon Powers said county agricultural deputies also are investigating, but it's a mess that could take a long time to unravel.Coffman's department and the Poultry Federation began feeding the starving chickens on Tuesday, but Coffman and others said birds would be destroyed.Coffman said the birds, 15 months old, are near the end of their egg-laying prime, so no other farmers would want them. Even at their peak, the birds sell for about $1.50 each or less, he said.Attorneys for the court-appointed trustee, Lakeland accountant Andrea Bauman, said she was handed control of the farm late Thursday and immediately began investigating. When Bauman learned the chickens had not been fed, she and her team contacted state officials and began trying to secure enough food for 200,000 birds, attorney Chad Bowen said.Another of Bauman's attorneys, David Jennis, said Bauman apparently was given control when bankruptcy court learned the chickens had not been fed. It was her first priority to get food to the birds, Jennis said.James Biggers, chairman of Cypress Foods and responsible for the company until Bauman took charge, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. The phone went unanswered at Cypress Foods headquarters, and a message left on a machine at the Trilby plant was not returned.But Pasco County egg farmer Wilton Simpson, whose family sold the Trilby operation to Biggers in 1996, said Biggers is a decent man who got caught in an industrywide crunch.Florida Poultry Federation Executive Vice President Chuck Smith concurred.The industry has suffered through a huge slump in the past year. The price of eggs has plummeting as Midwestern farms with 5-million to 10-million chickens produced eggs faster than consumers could buy them, Smith said.The Trilby operation is minuscule compared with the Midwestern giants, Simpson said. It's small even compared with the industry standard of 800,000 to 1-million chickens, he said.Smith said many farmers have weathered the depressed market through contracts with supermarkets and other outlets. The price per egg might drop, he said, but at least there's a buyer. Cypress Foods did not have a contract and sold its eggs on the open market to any bidders it could find. In the end, the company was selling eggs for less than it cost to produce them, Smith said.Gael Murphy, educational coordinator for the nonprofit Florida Voices For Animals, said consumers need to know how farm animals are treated. She condemned the abandonment of thousands of live animals and said the strongest way consumers can take action is to go vegetarian."It's chicken feed. Just by saying it, you know it's not worth much," Murphy said. "But they would rather starve these chickens than feed them."She said investigators should use felony animal cruelty laws already on the books to prosecute the responsible parties in the Trilby case.
"These chickens were packed into cages, in the dark, watching the others die all around them," Murphy said. "They knew what was going on."

*****

Hi Nan and everyone,
Nan, thanks for the update. That is good news as
I had seen a post on another list that only about 300
of the birds would be saved and the rest were to be
euthanized. I am so glad that at least a few more are
going to survive this hellish event.
I wish I could quickly come up with homes for
some of them out here but am afraid it will be too
late. As you can probably imagine, it's pretty
difficult to find homes for chickens in an urban area.
I do hope the people who so cruelly left these poor
creatures to such a horrible death get the absolute
maximum punishment (and then some) for what they
did.

Terry Whatley

*****

I believe it was Terry that offered a parable about a man walking along a beach as the tide was going out, and saw a little girl frantically picking up stranded starfish, taking them two at a time, back into deep water. Well, there were thousands of them, and the man asked, "Why are you doing this? There are too many! Don't you realize that you will never help them all--that you will never make a real difference? The little girl pointed to the deep water and replied, "I made a difference to THEM."

If you know anybody in Florida that might help in any way, now would be a good time to call in a favor.

--Ray


[This message has been edited by raynjudy (edited March 10, 2002).]

[Robyn]

Deb,

I realize I'm so far away from you and the problem but does not anywhere in Fla. or surrounding states have Ag departments with the schools? Do you have feed stores? Do you not have a county extention office?

Please respond to my questions. Maybe we in New Mexico can be of assistance. We and our surrounding states are big into these types of things.

PLEASE feel free to contact me a rrust@zianet.com

If I can be of any assistance at all I will be more than happy to do so.

SINCERELY
Robyn

[TAWhatley]

Hi Everyone,

Here are links to the latest news on the Florida and Georgia chickens:
http://tampatrib.com/FloridaMetro/MGALFZVDJYC.html
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ead_chickens_1


It is very, very sad.

Terry Whatley


[This message has been edited by TAWhatley (edited March 10, 2002).]

[Robyn]

Terry,
I'm just awfully sorry I can't run right down to Fa. and bring a few thousand home with me.
But..If you will contact me at my e-mail addrees above letting me know what I can do,
I will do all that is humanly possible to help in the plight of sad, defenseless creatures.
I'm here, ready to do all I can! Just point me in the right direction. PLEASE.
Robyn

[raynjudy]

Well, at this time the chickens rescued number in the hundreds. Pursuant to my previous comment, some very special people made all the difference to THEM.

Special thanks to Terri, Deb, Marian, Terry, Nancy, Gretchen, Robyn, and all the others that jumped all over this tragedy.

Communication is everything.

--Ray