United Poultry Concerns is a 501c(3) organization incorporated in
Maryland.
Founded in 1990.
Employer Identification Number: 52-1705678
Officers and Directors:
Karen Davis, Ph.D., President, Director
George Allan Cate Ph.D., Vice President, Director
Joan Meanor Holtgraver, M.A., Secretary Treasurer, Director
United Poultry Concerns (UPC) holds that the treatment of chickens and
other domestic fowl in food production, science, education,
entertainment, and human companionship situations has a significant
effect upon human, nonhuman, and environmental welfare. We seek to make
the public aware of the ways in which poultry are treated and to advance
the compassionate and respectful treatment of chickens and other
domestic fowl. UPC conducts full-time national programs and projects,
including our quarterly Newsletter PoultryPress, available in hardcopy
and online at UPC-online.org.
UPC works with groups and individuals throughout the world on issues
pertaining to the treatment of domestic fowl. Our sanctuary for domestic
fowl is accredited by the American Sanctuary Association and The
Association of Sanctuaries. We are active coalition members of the
Global Safe Food Alliance headed by Public Citizen, the Global Hunger
Alliance initiated by Farm Animal Reform Movement, and The Summit for
the Animals, an annual meeting of the heads of national animal
protection organizations in the U.S. UPC was an active participant
in the USDA-sponsored Farm Animal Well-Being Task Group, until the Task
Group's demise in 2002. We are grateful to each and every one of our members and
supporters for enabling us to fulfill our mission in 2001.
Highlights
In 2001, United Poultry Concerns:
- Conducted a successful 4-month investigation that resulted in the
permanent closing of the West Side Poultry Market in Cleveland, Ohio, by
the Department of Public Heath on April 28. We placed all 214 birds and
rabbits in good homes and adopted 40 of the birds into our shelter.
- Provided avian behavior studies and sentencing recommendations to the
district attorney and judge, which assisted in the successful
prosecution of Denver, CO radio announcer Steven Meade for cruelty to
animals. Meade was convicted of cruelty on January 31st for dropping a
hen from a 3rd-story balcony in order to broadcast her reaction on the
air.
- Co-hosted the April 23rd news conference at the National Press Club in
Washington DC announcing the formation of the Global Safe Food Alliance,
a coalition of consumer, animal protection, whistleblower,
environmental, and faith-based concerns, focusing on food safety, animal
protection, and planetary responsibility. UPC President Karen Davis was
a speaker at the news conference, where she described to journalists and
government officials the welfare problems and environmental impact of
domestic and global poultry production.
- Co-sponsored the Farmed Animal Well-Being Conference, June 28 - June
29 at the University of California, Davis. The conference, organized by
United Poultry Concerns, Animal Place, and the Association of
Veterinarians for Animal Rights, featured leading farmed animal welfare
specialists in the United States, Canada, and Australia to discuss
critical farmed animal welfare issues. The conference is summarized in
the Fall and Winter issues of PoultryPress 2001.
- Held an exhibit table at the 2001 Animal Rights National Convention,
June 30 - July 5, in Washington DC. UPC President Karen Davis was a
keynote speaker at the National Convention.
- Won in September our vigorous campaign, launched the previous year, to
get the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh to permanently cancel its
chick hatchery exhibit.
- Launched a campaign to urge the ASPCA to enforce the New York State
Anti-cruelty statute requiring that chickens used in the annual Kapparot
ritual in September be provided with food, water, and adequate shelter
while awaiting ritual slaughter. Our Action Alert appears in the Winter
2001 issue of PoultryPress. The ASPCA has agreed to address this
problem.
- Adopted 20 of 750 birds rescued from a live poultry market in Boston
by the Massachusetts SPCA in August. UPC helped to find homes for
hundreds of abused and rescued birds in 2001.
- Published More Than a Meal: The Turkey in History, Myth, Ritual, and
Reality by UPC President Karen Davis. The book, published by Lantern
Books in November, received strong endorsements from avian specialists
Dr. Lesley
Rogers, Dr. Gisela Kaplan, and Dr. Ian Duncan, and philosopher Peter
Singer, who wrote that More Than a Meal "challenges all Americans to
think about the values that they want their annual family ritual to
embody."
- Held our 3rd annual Forum at our headquarters in Machipongo, Virginia
on December 8-9. This year's topic was "Do Animal Welfare Campaigns &
Reforms Hurt or Help Animal Rights & Abolition. Speakers and attendees
debated and discussed the pros and cons of animal welfare vs. animal
rights campaigns. Forum presentations are summarized in the
Winter-Spring 2002 issue of PoultryPress.
Humane Education in the Schools
- Revised and updated Hatching Good Lessons: Alternatives to School
Hatching Projects. We distributed 2,500 copies free to educators in
2001.
- Published 5000 UPC Sanctuary Brochures inviting teachers and members
of the public to visit our accredited sanctuary for domestic fowl in
Machipongo, Virginia. Our sanctuary is open to the public Monday through
Saturday.
- Produced a color poster for teachers, "What Wings are For."
- Exhibited and gave workshops at the Virginia Association of Science
Teachers in Richmond, Virginia, October 19-20; and at the National
Science Teachers Association Convention in Columbus, Ohio, November
8-10, 2001.
Support for Humane Legislation
In 2001 United Poultry Concerns:
- Supported with letters, information, and Action Alerts the Illinois
HumanePAC bill to ban the forced molting-a food deprivation procedure--
of laying hens. HB 0756, The Safe Egg and Laying Hen Protection Act, was
defeated in the Agriculture Committee.
- Supported with letters, information, and Action Alerts two Washington
State bills (HB 5730 and 1726) that sought to ban forced molting,
debeaking, and battery cages for laying hens.
- Supported with letters, information, and Action Alerts the successful
House and Senate Bills to ban the interstate and overseas transport of
birds intended for cockfighting. Congress signed these bills into law in
May 2002 as Farm Bill Amendments.
Participation in Poultry & Egg Industry Meetings
United Poultry Concerns actively participates as stakeholders in
industry/government meetings on animal welfare, environmental, and food
safety issues. In 2001, UPC attended the following meetings where we
presented our concerns:
- Ohio Livestock Coalition's 4th Annual Meeting, Ohio Department of
Agriculture, February 21.
- Focus on Welfare of Livestock Conference, Perdue University, April 30.
- USDA Farm Animal Well-Being Task Group Meeting, Washington, DC, May
25.
- WATT Poultry Summit IV Focusing on Bird Welfare in the Commercial
Layer Industry, Las Vegas, October 16.
Vigils, Protest Demonstrations & Thanksgiving Activities
- Conducted nine "Slaughter of the Innocent" protest demonstrations at
Washington DC Area KFC Restaurants from January through November.
Received major coverage in the Maryland Gazette Newspapers. Our theme:
"Don't Just Switch from Beef to Chicken, Get the Slaughterhouse Out of
Your Kitchen!"
- Protested the sale of duck meat at the Tenley Circle Fresh Fields
supermarket in Washington DC on February 11th. Our theme: "Ducks are
Divine, Go Veggie This Time!"
- Protested at the White House Easter Egg Roll on April 16th. Our
theme: "What's Wrong with Eggs? - Everything!"
- Protested for the 10th year at the Delmarva Chicken Festival in
Pocomoke City, Maryland on June 16th. Our Theme: "Chickens are Great
but 'Chicken' is Nothing to Celebrate."
- Protested against Perdue Farms on May 23 and June 2nd. As reported by
the Salisbury, Md Daily Times, "The anti-chicken advocates of United
Poultry Concerns have been trailing industry bigwigs at events for
weeks, including Jim Perdue's keynote speech at a Wharton School dinner
at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia last month, and his
father Frank's award dinner at Salisbury State University two weeks ago.
'We are there at every event we can attend to announce how cruel and
criminal the poultry industry is,' UPC President Karen Davis said."
- Hosted our 11th Annual Mourning Vigil for Chickens on World Farmed
Animals Day at the Giant Supermarket in Bethesda, Md on October 2nd. The
Vigil focused attention on the egg industry. We held a successful
information table and showed the Faunavision video Hope for the
Hopeless, which shows the horrible condition of hens as a battery-hen
complex in Maryland.
- Held our 4th Annual Vigil for Turkeys in Bethesda, Md on November
16th. Our themes: "Don't Gobble Me!" "Turkeys: Meet One, Don't Eat One!"
and "Give Peace a Chance - Go Vegan."
In 2001, UPC participated in a variety of conferences and community
events including:
- Mount Vernon Community Day, Alexandria, VA, May 19.
- Mid-Hudson Vegetarian Society, Kingston, NY, March 10. UPC President
Karen Davis was the keynote speaker
- Animal Rights 2001 National Convention, Washington, DC, June 30 - July
5. UPC President Karen Davis was a keynote speaker.
- Charlottesville Vegetarian Festival, September 15
- Vegetarian Society of El Paso Annual Dinner, September 22. UPC
President Karen Davis was the keynote speaker.
- Eastern Shore Birding Festival, Cape Charles, VA, October 5 - 7.
- VegFest DC 2001, American University, October 13. UPC President Karen
Davis was the keynote speaker.
- Washington DC Vegetarian Society's annual Thanksgiving Day Dinner,
November 22nd.
News Media Coverage and Commentaries
- UPC published letters to the editor and opinion pieces, and was
covered in many newspapers in 2001 including The Village Voice, The Wall
Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, The Virginian-Pilot, the
Salisbury, Md Daily Times, the Asheville, NC Citizen-Times, and the
Gazette Newspapers in Maryland. UPC President Karen Davis conducted
radio interviews throughout the country in 2001 including the Bob Linden
Show (Los Angeles), the Meria Heller Show (Phoenix, AZ), the Louie Free
Show (NJ), the Greg Gattine Show (Woodstock, NY), Animal Voices
(Toronto) and Suzanne Dragan's "Pet House" (New Brunswick, NJ).
United Poultry Concerns Headquarters and Sanctuary
- United Poultry Concerns maintains a permanent full-time office,
sanctuary, education center and poultry adoption, sponsorship, and
placement service at our headquarters at 12325 Seaside Road, Machipongo,
Virginia 23405. UPC's website administration office, headed by Franklin
Wade, is located in Bethesda Maryland.
From all of us at United Poultry Concerns, we thank you for your strong
and continuing support for our work on behalf of chickens and other
domestic fowl.
Sincerely,
Karen Davis, PhD, President
United Poultry Concerns
United Poultry Concerns takes this opportunity to thank the following
foundations for assisting our programs in 2001: The Alexander
Foundation, the Helen Brach Foundation, The Marino Foundation, The New
York Community Trust, and The William and Charlotte Parks Foundation.
| United Poultry Concerns 2001 Financial Report
|
|---|
| Revenues | | $130,690.00 |
| Public Support | 130,690.00 |
|
| Expenses | | $137,349.00 |
| Programs and Education | 96,642.00 |
| Organizational Management | 26,048.00 |
| Fundraising | 14,600.00 |
|
| Net assets/ fund balance at end of year | | $119,689.00 |
|
|
