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photo by Bob Chorush
“Help HELP HELP!”
UPC President Karen Davis joined activists last weekend at the
annual July Convention of the American Veterinary Medical Association
to protest the AVMA’s continued support for the cruel poultry
and egg industry practice of starving hens for profit known as forced
molting. Wearing a 7-foot tall PETA chicken suit in front of the
Adam’s Mark Denver Hotel, UPC’s president cried
“Help, Help, Help! Stop Caging Me! Stop Debeaking Me! Stop
Starving Me!” followed by all-day leafleting at the
Convention Center of “American Veterinary Medical Association
Should Have A Consistent Ethic On Animal Care” by Karen Davis,
PhD and Holly Cheever, DVM. To view this 2-page document:
http://www.upc-online.org/summer99/avma_ethic.html
To view UPC’s 2003 Report to the AVMA, “The Animal
Welfare and Food Safety Issues Associated with the Forced Molting
of Laying Birds”:
http://www.upc-online.org/molting/52703.htm
What Can I Do?
The AVMA is under increasing attack among its members for its
continued support for the force molting of hens by food deprivation,
which is practiced by 75-80% of the US egg industry. This year
Dr. Holly Cheever, a board member of the Association of Veterinarians
for Animal Rights (AVAR), presented AVAR’s alternative resolution
for the fifth time. The resolution would have required all laying
chickens to receive nutritionally adequate food and water every
day. According to Dr. Cheever, “The AVMA’s Executive
Board had recommended that AVMA House of Delegate members vote
against the resolution. However, several members raised concerns
in a half-hour long debate in which they challenged AVMA members
to put animal welfare interests ahead of the interests of the
poultry industry.” Nebraska delegate Dr. Theodore Evans
Jr. said, “We should decide whether the AVMA is for animal
welfare or for dollars and cents.”
The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association has taken a stand
against forced molting by food deprivation on animal welfare grounds.
Please urge the AVMA to join the CVMA in opposing forced molting
and urge your own veterinarian to urge the AVMA to take a stand
against forced molting.
Bruce Little, DVM, Executive Vice President
American Veterinary Medical Association
1931 N. Meacham Road, Suite 100
Schaumburg, IL 60173-4360
Ph: 847-925-8070. Fax: 847-925-1329
United Poultry Concerns, Inc.
PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405-0150
757-678-7875
FAX: 757-678-5070
www.upc-online.org
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