April 10, 2002. Re-aired August 27, 2004
Contact: Sternshow@howardstern.com On April 10, 2002, Howard Stern had UPC President Karen Davis on his radio program to talk about the plight of chickens and to represent the position of United Poultry Concerns regarding the treatment of chickens. Among other things, Howard asked Karen whether she was serious in comparing the mistreatment of factory-farmed chickens to the Holocaust, and whether she was serious in comparing the suffering of factory-farmed chickens to the suffering of the victims of the 9/11 attack. She said she was serious and the case could be made. For background, visit www.upc-online.org/011226vegan_voice_singer.html Karen Davis' next book (2005) is The Holocaust and the Henmaid's Tale: A Case for Comparing Atrocities . On August 27, 2004, The Howard Stern Show re-aired Howard's interview with Karen Davis. The following letters are a sample of the emails UPC received.
karen i heard you on howard this morning and was
moved by your eloquent arguement. i know it must have
felt like talking to monkeys, but i just wanted you to
know there is at least one person who listened and
agreed with you. i believe there are two kinds of
people-those who understand the real meaning of love
and compassion, and those who have not yet evolved to
that point. i only wish you would have asked robin how
she would have felt about her horses being put in that
position. it might have changed her tune. anyway, keep
the faith.
Dear Howard Stern, After listening to your program this morning with Karen Davis, I find your comments this morning to be very contradictory to what you had mentioned in an earlier interview. http://www.upc-online.org/alerts/121103stern.htm
Either you are against the inhumane treatment of animals or your not, make up your mind.
Your argument this morning was the difference between humans and animals, but your dog would feel the same cruelty and pain felt by thousands of defenseless animals. Could you really see your dog suffer in the same way that the following article about KFC chickens do? http://money.cnn.com/2004/07/20/news/fortune500/kfc/
I just returned from England, and this country is way behind when it comes to vegetarian/vegan options. All food products are labelled wether suitable for vegetarians. Restaurants have tons of varied options. I choose not to take the lazy easy way out, because at the end of the day I can go to sleep knowing that I am not contributing to the atrocious acts towards other creatures that belong to this earth besides you and I.
Karen,
While driving to work this morning, I heard parts of your interview on the Howard Stern Show. As an animal rescuer and vegetarian-turning-vegan, I appreciate the situation you faced and applaud how well you handled it. You were articulate, focused, and unyielding to their ridicule.
I just wish they would have taken the time to truly understand your message. A message that I believe was one of compassion for all life, not just one species. As you said, people try to make this an all or nothing topic - if you're for animals you must be against people - and that's just not the case. It's a shame that people who attack you never take the time to learn about the situation before they make comments. No one in Howard's audience (including him and his staff) would ever trade places with an animal in the food industry for even just a day, yet they have no problem with letting things continue because they do not see or experience the misery firsthand. They have no justification for debating an issue they refuse to learn the truth about.
There's so much more I could say, but I know your time is extremely limited, so just let me thank you for helping the chickens and for conducting yourself in a truly commendable manner with Howard Stern.
I heard a radio interview with Karen Davis and although I have eaten a lot of chicken in my life I found myself persuaded in a remarkable and sincere way to cease eating chickens. I suspect I am slowly moving toward a vegan lifestyle, but have not quite made the move. I have searched the internet and found a paper "The Dignity, Beauty, and Abuse of Chickens; As Symbols and in Reality" by Karen Davis. I will read it this evening. Please provide me with a reading list and any video or dvd type presentations by Mrs. Karen Davis. It was her sincerity and intelligence and straight forward presentation of logical heartfelt common sense that somehow had a strong effect on my thinking.
Thank you sincerely Mrs. Davis. Your heart and your wisdom got to me in a major way. You are important and deserving of much applause. I felt quite humbled by your strength and depth while listening to your interview. You are quite clearly a very good person and a positive force in our world.
Karen
This morning (listening to what I believe was a re-run of the Howard Stern show) I heard you speak about the poultry industry. I checked out your website and realize we have much in common - similar family background, values and raised during the same 1950s era. In a way, we've also ended up in a similar place of wanting to help, love and protect those unfortunate creatures who have been born for the purpose of exploitation.
I want you to know how much I admire and respect your work with chickens and dedication to educating people on where there food comes from. The agri-business is cruel, disgusting, deplorable. Having become obsessed with the Holocaust myself at one point, I have often thought of the parallels of it with the food animal industry.
I was a vegetarian on and off since my teen years when I was urged to eat the once a week steak (the appearance of such being considered a symbol of success in that time). Within the last two years I've eliminated most animal products from my diet and life (I have cheese occasionally, but have eliminated all other dairy, eggs, meat, fish, leather and feather). We are fortunate to have a wide variety of vegetarian/vegan alternatives available so vegetarianism no longer means being merely a "lettuce eater."
In a world where people with our beliefs are frequently challenged or mocked, I want to tell you - you are NOT alone!! There are some others out here who care about senient beings (are you familiar with Farm Sanctuary? They have a website - farmsanctuary.org). Sometimes realization of the few that are saved are the "proverbial drop in the bucket" becomes discouraging and depressing. But, you said something to the effect that the only world we can change is our own, so . . .
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United Poultry Concerns, Inc.