On Friday evening, December 14, 2012, University of Kansas fraternity Beta Theta Pi, in Lawrence, rented a turkey for a fraternity house drinking
party. Eyewitnesses described fraternity members kicking in the cage in which the turkey was confined. After they broke the cage, the bird was
chased, thrown like a football, and choked by the neck. The Kansas City Star reported 12/17/2012: “When the turkey’s wing
snapped, and then its leg, the animal began screaming, witnesses said.”
Witnesses described the brutality they observed as “nauseating” and “horrible.” A band member at the scene begged the
fraternity to let her rescue the turkey from the violence but was told it was none of her business. Police were told a fraternity member finally
killed the turkey.
The KU Beta Theta Pi complaint is under criminal investigation. The National Beta Theta Pi parent organization has put the KU fraternity on
suspension. KU fraternities are governed by the campus’s Interfraternity Council which will do the initial investigation using information
from the police. The University of Kansas has influence over the Council. University Relations told Lawrence activist Judy Carman yesterday,
“We’re not going to let this go away.”
Kansas Cruelty to Animals Statute 21-4310 defines Cruelty to Animals as “Intentionally killing, injuring, maiming, torturing or mutilating
any animal.”
A key word in this law is INTENTIONAL. The fact that the fraternity rented the turkey for a drinking party shows an intention to put this bird in a
destructive situation likely (certain) to cause injury or death to this animal by intoxicated students. By all accounts, Beta Theta Pi members
intentionally tortured, injured and killed this helpless, unoffending bird.
What Can I Do? (Contact Information Follows)
- Urge Douglas County District Attorney Charles Branson to conduct a thorough criminal investigation and, as findings warrant, to prosecute the
student offenders to the fullest extent of the law. (See UPC’s letter following contact information.)
- Urge the National Beta Theta Pi organization and the KU Interfraternity Council to investigate the complaint and discipline the KU Beta Theta Pi
fraternity in keeping with findings of intentional animal cruelty at the drinking party. Urge adoption of a Fraternity Code of Ethical Conduct
prohibiting the presence of nonhuman animals at all fraternity functions. The Code should also include enforceable standards of humane conduct for
Beta Theta Pi and all fraternities. Animals should be banned from all fraternity functions. Violations should mandate expulsion of the fraternity
from the campus and its parent organization.
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Urge University of Kansas Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little to adopt and enforce policies prohibiting and penalizing animal cruelty at The
University of Kansas. Penalties should include expulsion of students and failure to graduate. Penalties should include expulsion of students and failure to graduate. Urge Chancellor Gray-Little to adopt a Code of Humane Conduct for all campus residents, showing the leadership needed to prevent animal cruelty in the future.
CONTACTS:
District Attorney Charles Branson
Douglas County DA’s Office
111 East 11th St, First Level
Lawrence KS 66044
Office: 785-841-0211
Fax: 785-832-8202
Email: districtattorney@douglas-county.com
Justin Warren, Director of Chapter Operations
Beta Theta Pi Foundation and Administrative Office
5134 Bonham Road, PO Box 6277
Oxford, OH 45056
Phone: 513-523-7591 (Justin Warren ext 264)
Fax: 513-523-2381
Email: Justin.warren@betathetapi.org
IFC Executive Board
Interfraternity Council
University of Kansas
1301 Jayhawk Blvd
Room 424, Kansas Union
Lawrence, KS 66045
Phone: 785-864-4643
Email: Ifcpr@ku.edu
Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little
Chancellor’s Office
The University of Kansas
230 Strong Hall
Lawrence, KS 66045-7518
Phone: 785-864-3131
Fax: 785-864-4120
Email: chancellor@ku.edu
UPC’s Letter to Douglas County District Attorney Charles Branson followed by the Reply
December 20, 2012
District Attorney Charles Branson
Douglas County DA’s Office
111 East 11th St, First Level
Lawrence KS 66044
Via Email: Districtattorney@douglas-county.com
Dear Mr. Branson:
On behalf of United Poultry Concerns, I am writing to urge you to prosecute the individuals who reportedly abused and killed a turkey,
“rented” for the occasion, at a University of Kansas Beta Theta Pi fraternity house drinking party December 14, 2012.
Eyewitnesses described fraternity members kicking in the cage in which the turkey was confined. After they broke the cage, the bird was chased,
thrown like a football, and choked by the neck. “When the turkey’s wing snapped, and then its leg, the animal began screaming,
witnesses said.”
A band member at the scene said she begged the fraternity to let her rescue the turkey from the violence but was told it was none of her business.
Police were told a fraternity member finally killed the turkey.
Kansas Cruelty to Animals Statute Chapter 21-4310 defines Cruelty to Animals as “Intentionally killing, injuring, maiming, torturing or
mutilating any animal.” The Statute defines “Animal” as “every living vertebrate except a human being.”
The fact that Beta Theta Pi rented the turkey for a drinking party shows the fraternity’s intention to put this bird in a destructive
situation likely to cause injury or death to this animal by intoxicated students. By all accounts, fraternity members intentionally injured,
maimed, tortured, mutilated, and killed the turkey. Witnesses described the brutality they observed as “nauseating” and
“horrible.” As per your investigation, we want these students prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for their vicious and
unlawful behavior toward this helpless, unoffending bird.
Please advise how you intend to proceed with this case. We will gladly assist as needed. Turkeys are sentient animals with the same capacity for
pain, suffering and fear as a cat or dog or pet bird. They deserve equal protection under the law from intentional cruelty.
Thank you very much for your attention. We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Karen Davis, PhD, President
United Poultry Concerns
PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405
Office: 757-678-7875
Email: Karen@upc-online.org
District Attorney’s Office Reply 12/20/2012
Dear Ms. Davis:
Thank you for contacting the office of District Attorney Charles Branson.
The Lawrence Police Department is conducting the investigation of the incident and it is estimated that it will take several weeks to complete.
Therefore, as of this date, no facts about the situation have been presented to our office. We cannot speculate on what level of charges, if any,
will be filed until we receive law enforcement’s investigative reports.
We take any allegation of animal abuse seriously and will pursue any charge we believe is supported by the facts of the case and I will relay your
concerns to the District Attorney so he will be aware of them when the reports are reviewed.
Thank you again for taking the time to share your concerns with our office.
Sincerely yours,
Cheryl L. Wright
Assistant to the D.A.
Office of District Attorney Charles Branson
111 E. 11th St, Unit 100
Lawrence, KS 66044--2912
cwright@douglas-county.com
cheryl.wright@leo.gov
UPC’s Letter to Justin Warren of Beta Theta Pi’s National Organization followed by His Reply
December 20, 2012
Justin Warren, Director of Chapter Operations
Beta Theta Pi Foundation and Administrative Office
5134 Bonham Road, PO Box 6277
Oxford, OH 45056
Via Email: Justin.warren@betathetapi.org
Dear Mr. Warren:
On behalf of United Poultry Concerns, I am writing respectfully to urge you to investigate and, if your findings so warrant, to punish the Beta
Theta Pi Chapter at The University of Kansas for abusing and killing a turkey, “rented” for a Beta Theta Pi fraternity house drinking
party December 14, 2012.
We are pleased to learn you are taking this matter seriously by suspending the chapter and obtaining witness statements about the animal cruelty
described at the fraternity house drinking party on December 14. We have written the Douglas County District Attorney urging prosecution of the
students under the Kansas Cruelty to Animals Statute which defines Cruelty to Animals as “Intentionally killing, maiming, torturing or
mutilating any [vertebrate] animal.”
Eyewitnesses described fraternity members kicking in the cage in which the turkey was confined. They described fraternity members breaking the
cage, chasing the bird, throwing the bird like a football, and choking the bird’s neck. The Kansas City Star reported 12/18/2012:
“When the turkey’s wing snapped, and then its leg, the animal began screaming, witnesses said.”
Witnesses described the brutality they observed as “nauseating” and “horrible.”
The fact that Beta Theta Pi rented the turkey for a drinking party shows the fraternity’s intention to put the bird in a destructive
situation certain to cause injury or death to this animal by intoxicated fraternity members.
Please take immediate steps to prevent future animal abuse by Beta Theta Pi Chapters. In addition to taking the strongest possible disciplinary
action against the KU Chapter, please develop, circulate, and enforce a written Code of Ethical Conduct Prohibiting Animals at All Beta Theta Pi
Functions. Violation of the prohibition should mandate expulsion of the chapter from the National Fraternity.
Your Mission of Developing Men of Principle for a Principled Life means at the very least developing men who protect defenseless creatures against
abuse. In this case, the evidence is strong that Beta Theta Pi men intentionally set up a situation in order to taunt, injure, terrorize and kill a
helpless, unoffending bird. Their conduct is despicable.
Please advise how Beta Theta Pi intends to handle this matter following your investigation. We will gladly assist as needed. Turkeys are sentient
animals with the same capacity for pain, suffering and fear as a cat or dog or pet bird. Please punish the KU Chapter and formulate and enforce a
Code of Ethical Conduct Prohibiting Animals at all Beta Theta Pi functions. In addition, please develop and inculcate standards of humane conduct
toward animals for Men of Principle of the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity.
Thank you very much for your attention. We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Karen Davis, PhD, President
United Poultry Concerns
PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405
Office: 757-678-7875
Email: Karen@UPC-online.org
Justin Warren’s Reply 12/21/2012
Ms. Davis,
I was unable to reach you via phone this morning; however, I am more than happy to provide a response.
First off, I wanted to thank you for your outreach and please know that we appreciate and share in your concern. Let me assure you that Beta Theta
Pi General Fraternity takes these allegations very seriously. At this time, we have suspended the chapter’s activities pending a complete and
thorough investigation. Our goal is to determine what members were primarily responsible for the actions and to what extent the rest of the chapter
participated in bystander behavior. From there, we will be able to have a clear path forward on how to handle the chapter and the individuals
involved.
Please see the attached statement issued on behalf of the undergraduate chapter, which acknowledges the General Fraternity’s suspension of
chapter activities.
In addition, the following statement was provided to the undergraduate chapter’s leadership as a part of the official action to suspend all
chapter activities pending the ongoing investigations:
“Beta Theta Pi prides itself on being an organization that holds its members to the highest standards of personal and group conduct. The risk
management policy and other rules and regulations of the General Fraternity, the University and the state of Kansas provide the framework for those
standards. In light of the recent incident at the chapter’s semester-end formal dinner and dance, the chapter’s ability to operate in
the constructs of those regulations has been called into question.
It is expected that the General Fraternity and the Alpha Nu chapter will coordinate an initial investigation to determine what occurred the evening
of the incident. Further, we expect that the chapter will comply fully with University and local officials during their investigations. All chapter
activities are suspended until a complete investigation has been completed.”
I think a number of the ideas that you have presented are good and will certainly be remembered going forward. Without a doubt, you can safely
assume that no animal will ever be involved in the Turkey Pull or any other event ever again with the KU chapter. Moreover, we are looking into how
many other instances of live animals may be found in our other chapters to determine how to make sure the lesson we are learning here carries over
to all Beta groups.
If the allegations do turn out to be true, our top priority will be to hold the individuals directly involved with the actions responsible.
Further, we will continue to evaluate the chapter’s ability to self-govern and determine how to best rectify the situation with the chapter
as well as educate our group at KU, and perhaps even the Greek or student bodies as a whole on this matter in attempts to prevent it from ever
happening again. I have heard of your organization a few times from individuals calling our office regarding this matter … Are there
resources, presentations or tactics that you all use to educate the public on these matters? If so, I would be interested in learning more about
them and how we might be able to incorporate them into our future dealings with the KU chapter.
We will continue to work diligently to make sure appropriate parties are held accountable and we appreciate your patience as this process unfolds.
Sincerely,
Justin
Beta Theta Pi Statement Regarding University of Kansas Animal Cruelty Allegations ![[pdf]](/pics/pdfdoc.gif)
2 January 2013
UPC Correspondence with KU Chancellor Gray-Little about the Fraternity Turkey Abuse Episode Dec. 14, 2012
January 3, 2013
Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little
Chancellor’s Office
The University of Kansas
230 Strong Hall
Lawrence, KS 66045-7518
Phone: 785-864-3131
Fax: 785-864-4120
Via Email: chancellor@ku.edu
Dear Dr. Gray-Little:
I am writing to you on behalf of United Poultry Concerns about the torture and killing of the turkey by members of the KU Chapter of Beta Theta Pi
during a drinking party at the fraternity house on December 14, 2012.
Eyewitnesses described a fraternity member kicking in the cage in which the turkey was confined. After the padlocked cage was broken, the bird was
chased, thrown like a football, and choked by the neck. The Kansas City Star reported 12/17/2012: “When the turkey’s wing
snapped, and then its leg, the animal began screaming, witnesses said.”
Grand Marquis Band member Lisa McKenzie described the brutality as “nauseating” and “horrible.” She begged the fraternity
to give her the turkey but was told it was none of her business. The band stopped playing and called the police.
As you know, the KU Beta Theta Pi complaint is under criminal investigation. Kansas Cruelty to Animals Statute 21-4310 defines Cruelty to Animals
as “Intentionally killing, injuring, maiming, torturing or mutilating any [vertebrate] animal.”
A key word in this law is INTENTIONAL. The fact that the fraternity rented the turkey for a drinking party shows their intention to put this
bird in a destructive situation certain to cause injury or death to her by intoxicated students. Beta Theta Pi members rented this helpless,
unoffending bird in order to make her suffer.
Lisa McKenzie told our office that the turkey appeared to be a Narragansett female weighing about 15 pounds. She said the band’s trumpeter,
Chad Boydston, watched the turkey being killed on the front porch of the fraternity house. The turkey was NOT killed “to end its
suffering,” as police were told at the scene. Boydston described the fraternity member holding the turkey by her neck and shaking her
violently until she was dead. McKenzie said the fraternity’s violence was unbelievable. She said, “You could see the fear in the
turkey’s face.”
Please investigate this episode fully and use the University’s influence over the Interfraternity Council to punish the fraternity and its
members who committed these acts of intentional cruelty to a defenseless bird. DO NOT GIVE THESE CRIMINAL STUDENTS A PASS BECAUSE THEY WERE DRUNK.
THEY INTENTIONALLY RENTED THE TURKEY TO ABUSE HER, AND THEY INTENTIONALLY FUELED THEIR SADISM WITH ALCOHOL.
Please develop and strictly enforce a Code of Ethical Conduct banning nonhuman animals of all species from all fraternity functions and from all KU
social functions. Student social functions almost always involve alcohol and other substances and conditions likely to put a defenseless animal in
danger.
We count on you to use this opportunity to show the leadership that is needed to prevent future episodes of cruelty to animals at The University of
Kansas. Guilty students should be expelled from the University and prevented from graduating. The University has an obligation to teach students
via Codes of Ethical Conduct and by example to respect living creatures of all species. Jim Lichtenberg, the School of Education Dean who joked
about masturbation in response to the woman who mistakenly thought she was communicating with a person of integrity and sensitivity about the
horror inflicted on an innocent animal by a bunch of sadistic male students at your school, suggests that faculty attitudes at The University of
Kansas may well have been a contributing factor. Dean Lichtenberg should be fired.
Please advise our office how you will proceed. We will gladly assist as needed. Turkeys are sentient animals with the same capacity for pain,
suffering and fear as a cat or dog or pet bird or you or I. We will be watching closely and reporting on the University’s handling of this
matter. We posted the following alert on the Internet on Dec. 21, 2012:
Turkey (Allegedly) Tortured by Students at Fraternity Drinking Party: Take Action!
We look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
Karen Davis, PhD, President
United Poultry Concerns
PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405
Office: 757-678-7875
Karen@UPC-online.org
United Poultry Concerns is a national nonprofit organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl. WWW.UPC-online.org
From:
KU Chancellor
Sent:
Thursday, January 03, 2013 11:57 AM
Dear Dr. Davis,
Thank you for your message. As you know, this incident is under investigation by the Lawrence Police Department. It is also being investigated by
the national fraternity, which has suspended the local chapter indefinitely, and the KU Interfraternity Council. The University of Kansas expects
anyone with information about this incident to cooperate fully.
Behavior such as that reported is reprehensible and is not what KU would expect from its students.
Bernadette Gray-Little
From:
Karen Davis
Sent:
Thursday, January 03, 2013 12:11 PM
Dear Chancellor Gray-Little:
Thank you for your prompt reply. We appreciate everything you will do to ensure that students and faculty at The University of Kansas respect and
protect animals and others instead of hurting and killing them, as the KU Beta Theta Pi fraternity brutally did to the female turkey at their
drinking party December 14, 2012.
We’ll be following this case closely and reporting its progress on the Internet and in our quarterly magazine Poultry Press.
Sincerely,
Karen Davis, PhD, President
United Poultry Concerns
Office: 757-678-7875
http://www.upc-online.org
