This year, we handled our week of actions differently. Due to geopolitical conflicts and the spike in threats and incidents over the past year, NYPD would be increasing security in the neighborhoods. We partnered with our various Community Affairs contacts and arranged to cooperate with them and operate as a much smaller group at the Kaporos sites. To ensure the least risk of problems, we used an application process to select about a dozen experienced activists to provide chicken care through the week.

This approach worked very well. We did not have a single incident where control was lost, and police were, overall, very helpful in ensuring we could access as many birds as possible to provide food, water, and also negotiate the surrender of many birds through the week. We returned to Borough Park for the first time since 2019, as there was a new Kaporos site that opened on public property. The precinct worked with us, and the site actually shut down upon our arrival! We kept the chickens long enough to feed them and arrange for the surrender of two injured birds.

The final night in Crown Heights had a different emphasis this year due to the smaller group. We had an avian veterinarian with us on-site, Dr. Lyle Cleary, in addition to our usual stocked ambulance staffed with expert carers from Tamerlaine Sanctuary and Preserve. The presence of a licensed veterinarian allowed us to openly rescue over a dozen injured chickens in full view of the practitioners.

Our rescue operation continues to operate with the most experienced crew of Cornish-cross chicken carers and rescuers in the country! Thanks to the support of a matching donor and dozens of individuals, we continue to be the largest annual animal liberation in the United States.

This year, we had placement secured for about 300 survivors. We set up our triage hospital, ambulances, and fosters in Long Island and upstate NY. Through the Week of Actions, we rescued about two dozen survivors through open surrenders at the sites. We also managed to rescue another 150 chickens. Our most common injuries were crushed toes and various leg issues; we had fewer broken wings than usual. This might be due to several sites starting to use baskets rather than pinning the birds’ wings behind their backs.

The final morning after the last night of ritual, we did our usual sweeps of Brooklyn, rescuing loose birds, chickens discarded in dumpsters, and pleading with workers to surrender survivors. We were caught by surprise when one site openly surrendered over 270 roosters to us! We sprung into action and rushed to fill 4 vehicles with survivors, emptying crate after crate as we were not allowed to take the crates (the loss of a crate is more costly to them than the loss of all the birds they contain). The video of this liberation went viral with over 15,000 views on Instagram alone.

The foster and transport took weeks, as we had 150 more birds than we had planned for. Thanks to sanctuaries working with us to expand their capacity, referrals to new homes, and our partner Tamerlaine Sanctuary taking in over 50 survivors, we managed to get everyone home to every region of the country. Our team cared for the hundreds of fosters for over three weeks while transports went out, including over 20 birds requiring special care like PT, wraps, daily medications. This was made possible by the support of our community! We were able to cover the costs of their triage, foster, transport, medical, as well as provide sanctuary support to expand the capacity of several of the homes in our network.

The total financials for the 2024 Kaporos rescues are:

Triage/Foster ………………………	$4,644.06
Medical …………………………………	$10,009.44
Sanctuary Support ………………	$8,575.00
Transport ………………………………	$8,247.51
Total Expenses ……………………	$32,476.01
Total Raised ……………………………	$34,863.92