Machipongo, VA – After Tim Eisemann's sixth-grade class raised ducklings from an incubator, the 20 baby birds would have gone to slaughter this week if Tim had not taken action. Instead he sent out an imploring email to United Poultry Concerns: “Please help me if you can.”

Following a weekend of fruitless efforts to find a home for the ducklings, United Poultry Concerns referred Tim to Sara Whalen of Pets Alive in Middletown, New York. Whalen published an Internet alert, and within minutes, Angels Gate hospice on Long Island offered sanctuary to the ducklings.

Tim Eisemann challenged the Babylon Memorial Grade School's practice of hatching ducklings for destruction. To help prevent further occurrences, United Poultry Concerns sent his teacher our booklet on Hatching Good Lessons: Alternatives To School Hatching Projects . The booklet shows how to teach students intelligently about birds without encouraging the view that animals are disposable objects. Schools typically provide no veterinary care for the many deformed and sick birds hatched needlessly in classroom incubators. And like all baby birds, ducklings need their mothers.

Tim is a hero. Thanks to his refusal to be spoon-fed animal suffering as “education,” 20 doomed ducklings now have a home. Sadly, most birds hatched in classrooms never find homes. A slaughterhouse is not a home, and animal shelters and sanctuaries are overwhelmed with unwanted animals, reflecting society's contribution to preventable pet overpopulation. As a step in the right direction, we encourage parents, teachers, and students to contact United Poultry Concerns for our free educational literature. Tim spoke for many students who are silent out of fear when he wrote, “I am an animal lover and it would break my heart to see these ducklings go away to a cruel death.” By turning his compassion into action, Tim is a mentor for all of us.

For information on ducks, visit http://upc-online.org/ducks/

For information on hatching project alternatives, visit http://upc-online.org/hatching/

United Poultry Concerns is a nonprofit organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl: www.UPC-online.org