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April 7, 2017
George Fontenot, Principal
St. Cecilia Catholic School
302 West Main Street
Broussard, LA 70518 (via USPS)
Dear Mr. Fontenot,
On behalf of United Poultry Concerns, I am writing to you most
respectfully to urge you, please, to eliminate the annual Mardi Gras
“chicken run” from the curriculum of St. Cecilia Catholic
School.
It is always distressing to see chickens or any other creature being
bullied and abused by people, and it is especially distressing, and in
fact, disgusting, to see children being prodded and indoctrinated by
their mentors to mistreat unoffending creatures for pleasure.
I and many others were shocked to watch a TV video of your 8th-graders,
and at least one adult male figure, mistreating chickens on February
24, 2017. It is neither kind nor Christian or in keeping with
“leading, or being led by, the Holy Spirit,” to ridicule,
terrorize and potentially injure chickens or any other individual,
regardless of whether that individual is one or God’s human
creatures or one of His nonhuman creatures.
Having been a school teacher and a juvenile probation officer myself
for many years, in Maryland, I know how intimidated children can be by
adults, causing children with sensitive feelings to fear speaking out
when they see an adult figure on whom they are dependent in so many
ways, behaving cruelly and unjustly. By the same token, children who
are more callous and uncaring, or worse, are encouraged by teachers and
parents who model cruelty and act like abusing a bird or some other
poor victim, is fun and morally acceptable. This behavior is not
acceptable, and I am therefore urging you to teach and exemplify
compassion for all creatures who are at our mercy instead of creating
scenes of chaos, callousness and cruelty toward any fellow being.
If your school wishes to pick on someone, repugnant as that is, at
least choose a victim whose size and ability to fight back are
proportional to the tormenters.
Please understand that chickens are not unfeeling objects. Perhaps once
upon a time, you and others were taught this false idea. However,
modern cognitive science has demonstrated conclusively that chickens,
like all other birds, are complex individuals – they are
sensitive, intelligent, conscious, sociable beings, and they deserve
our respect.
Even if they were “dumb,” however, which they are not, it
would be a disgrace to abuse them for that reason, since only bullies
and ignorant people find it pleasurable to inflict fear and suffering
on those who are least able to understand the abusive situation, let
alone fight back.
Thank you very much for your attention. I look forward to hearing from
you.
Sincerely,
Karen Davis, PhD, President
United Poultry Concerns
12325 Seaside Road, PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405
Phone: 757-678-7875
Email: Karen@UPC-online.org
Website: http://www.upc-online.org
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