“This is going to affect anybody who wants to get poultry through the mail, whether it be little Susie’s 4-H project or a school incubating eggs. It’s every feed store in the country that depends on their birds to come in through the mail.” Complaint of Murray McMurray Hatchery to The Des Moines Register, Aug. 4

As of August 15, 2001, Northwest Airlines announced it will stop carrying newborn chicks, ducklings, goslings, and other animals for the U.S. Postal Service, thereby joining the majority of carriers, including Federal Express and United Parcel Service, who refuse to transport live animals for the Postal Service. Worried about the effect of Northwest’s decision on its business, Murray McMurray, which is located outside Minneapolis-St Paul where Northwest Airlines is based, told The Des Moines Register (Aug. 4) it can’t see why carriers would “choose to take a perfumed letter rather than a chicken.”

On its web site at www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/takeaction.asp, Murray McMurray Hatchery is urging its customers and fellow businesses to lobby Congress to force the U.S. Postal Service to require airlines to ship live birds by mail. (Some airlines will ship live birds as cargo, but as mail; cargo is more expensive.)

• Thank Northwest Airlines for choosing to stop shipping newborn chicks and other animals as airmail. Tell them how much you appreciate their humane decision. Contact:

  Ms. Cindy Scheer, Director Customer and Sales Support Northwest Airlines Customer Relations, Mail Stop C6590 PO Box 11875 St Paul, MN 55111-3034 Or Via the Talk to Us section at www.nwa.com/talk Or by phone: 612-726-2046 (Mon-Fri 7 AM – 7PM)

  
  
• Contact Your Members of Congress. Tell them to oppose any proposed legislation that would let the U.S. Postal Service force the airlines to ship live birds and other animals as airmail. The stress of airmail shipping for newborn birds and other animals includes injury, malnutrition, water deprivation, poor ventilation, crowding, and fear for these animals. Airmail shipping may take days including stopovers, delayed flights, and long distances. It is cruel and inhumane.
  
  Contact Your Two Senators: www.senate.gov/contacting/

  The Honorable ______________ U.S. Senate Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator __________

  Contact Your House Representative: www.house.gov/writerep/

  The Honorable ______________ U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Representative __________

  To learn who your House Representative and Senators are, and your congressional district if you’re not sure, call the 24 hour Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121.