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UPC activists Karen Davis (left) &
Lynn Halpern (right)
UPC President Karen Davis joined activists 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.
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
The AVMA is under increasing attack among its members for its
continued support for the forced 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. o
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
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