The practice at the center of factory farming's cruelty-cramming hundreds to millions of animals into small spaces as if they were inanimate objects rather than the thinking, feeling beings they are-causes enormous and often deadly pollution problems. By concentrating unimaginably large amounts of manure, factory farming endangers countless living beings, including humans. Toxic fumes, E. coli, salmonella, and pfiesteria are among the dangers.

Human residents of Rembrandt, Iowa, population 270, have chosen to fight a 4-million-hen egg factory threatening their town. One member of a family living near the planned egg-factory location is a 13-year-old boy with severe asthma. His life is threatened by fumes from the facility, his family's home threatened like many others. "Rembrandt Enterprises" is owned by Glen Taylor, one of the wealthiest persons in the U.S. and owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team. Taylor has refused to accept petitions Rembrandt residents have sent him four times by certified mail showing the town overwhelmingly opposes the egg factory. Taylor has also failed to respond to letters detailing problems with his plans.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is scheduled to decide on Rembrandt Enterprises' application by the beginning of September. Iowa law denies local governments authority over factory-farm sites, and the IDNR expects to approve the application if it meets Iowa's lax regulations affecting water pollution from factory farms. The IDNR is not even permitted to consider air quality! Amazingly, the egg factory could move in even though it would operate at the headwaters of a river that provides drinking water to Des Moines and other towns. The only hope may be executive action by Iowa Governor Thomas Vilsack.

A few years ago, Governor Vilsack's predecessor blocked a smaller egg factory because it would have bordered on a state park. Governor Vilsack likewise must block Rembrandt Enterprises. Emphasizing dangers to the people of Iowa while reminding Governor Vilsack of the animals' plight, please, in the next day or two, urge Governor Vilsack to use the power of his office in any way necessary to prevent a 4-million-hen egg factory from opening at Rembrandt, Iowa.

Send to:

The Honorable Thomas Vilsack, Governor of the State of Iowa
State Capitol
Des Moines, IA 50319
fax 515-281-6611

Letters can also be sent to:

Glen Taylor, President, Taylor Corporation
1725 Roe Crest Drive
Mankato, MN 56003
fax 507-625-2988

From: Gene Bauston

United Poultry Concerns. August 15, 2000

United Poultry Concerns, Inc.
PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405-0150
757-678-7875
FAX: 757-678-5070
www.upc-online.org

(Action Alert - Stop Rembrandt,IA Egg Farm)