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11 December 2012
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UPC Needs Your Support This Holiday Season
Why Support United Poultry Concerns?
“Founded in 1990 by Karen Davis, United Poultry Concerns is the world’s foremost non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the
respectful treatment of domestic fowl. UPC runs a haven for chickens in Virginia, and also teaches people about the egg and chicken meat
industries, the natural lives of free chickens, pleasures and benefits of human-chicken companionship, and alternatives to chicken farming and the
use of chickens in education and scientific
experimentation.”
– Dr. Annie Potts,
Chicken,
REAKTION BOOKS, 2012
Holiday Greetings from United Poultry Concerns
Photo of UPC hen Rosie by Davida G. Breier
From Our Hearts to Yours
Photo of UPC's Miss Wyandotte with Alisa Ryabinova by Orv Lehman.
Thank You for Your Support
Dear Friend,
We are proud to announce that 2013 marks our 23rd year of dedicated activism for chickens, turkeys, ducks and other domesticated fowl. I want to begin by
thanking you for your support and asking for your continuing support in the coming year.
As you know, United Poultry Concerns educates people about the plight – and delight – of chickens and other birds locked into the food industry
and other sources of abuse. In addition to our many programs and public outreach campaigns to liberate these birds, we run a sanctuary for chickens at our
headquarters in Machipongo, Virginia. This month (December 2012), we took into our sanctuary nine new chickens, seven hens and two roosters. Our newest
residents are Tisket, Tasket, Beatrice and Biskwik; Buffy, Taffy, Molly and Belinda from Maryland; Lorenzo from North Carolina, and Glory the guinea fowl
from Virginia!
In June, we adopted a handsome golden-white rooster named Ivan. How I love watching the interactions between our new birds and those who are already
established. There is a dance of life and perpetual drama among our rescued birds, all of whom have found permanent refuge at United Poultry Concerns.
I defy anyone to say our birds do not fully enjoy the ground under their feet, the sunlight they bask in on winter days, the small breezes that ruffle
their feathers as they sit quietly together under the trees on a summer afternoon.
So how did Ivan fit himself into this charmed circle of avian life? During his first few weeks here, Rawley and Benjamin ran him off every time he tried to
get too close. Ivan, meanwhile, watched, waited, and made his moves.
In the evening, Ivan would listen attentively in the yard for Benjamin to fly up to his perch on top of the heavy wooden door. He’d wait for the
sound of Rawley flitting up to his cabinet post where he stays until morning once settled up high with his hens. Perceiving the coast is clear, Ivan
cautiously enters the chicken house and quietly makes his way to the chicken ladder where he hopes at least one hen will be sitting for him to sit next to
during the night.
For a month after Ivan appeared, all of the hens followed Rawley’s lead and abandoned the chicken ladder entirely, so that when Ivan came inside to
roost at night, he had to sit by himself. Eventually some of the hens trickled back, and now Ivan has his own sweet circle of friends and everyone is happy
and Lorenzo is the newcomer undergoing his own ritual initiation into the flock.
On November 23, United Poultry Concerns was quoted in The Washington Post on the plight of roosters resulting from the backyard chicken-keeping
trend, which has led to so many unwanted birds. Our sanctuary assistants Holly and Wayne Wills kindly adopted two lovely roosters, Hanz and Gretsky, from a
Maryland shelter after our sanctuary became full in early December. We know that you appreciate our work on behalf of these wonderful birds and we are
asking you please to support our programs in 2013. Your generous tax-deductible gift means the world to us.
Thank You & Happy Holidays & New Year from All of Your Feathered Friends & Staff at United Poultry Concerns!
Karen Davis, PhD
President & Founder
United Poultry Concerns
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United Poultry Concerns is a nonprofit organization. Federal ID: 52-1705678. All donations are tax-deductible. A financial statement is available on
written request to the Office of Consumer Affairs, PO Box 1163, Richmond, Virginia 23218. Our 990 tax forms, Annual Reports & Audits are posted on
our website at www.upc-online.org. To view these documents, click on About UPC on our homepage at www.upc-online.org/more_about_upc.html. Thank you.
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