FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 1999 |
Contact: Karen Davis at (757) 678-7875
Teri Barnato at (530) 759-8106 |
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News Conference to Highlight Poultry Abuses Atlanta - While poultry producers convene for their annual International Poultry Exposition in Atlanta, experts from national animal protection groups will hold a news conference to expose the industry-wide practice of starving hens known as forced molting.
Roger Caras, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) President and former ABC-TV Special Correspondent, will call upon egg producers to immediately end the forced molting of their chickens, citing laws that prohibit depriving animals of sustenance. He points out that, while starving cats and dogs is illegal, few laws protect chickens raised for food. Egg producers starve millions of "laying" hens for up to 14 days at a time in order to increase their productivity once they are again allowed access to food. Starving the birds suppresses their immune systems and makes them (and their eggs) more susceptible to salmonella infection. "We take this matter extremely seriously," says Caras, the author of more than 60 books about animals. "We will use all the power vested in us to respond to any known instance of induced molting." USDA immunologist Peter Holt has reported, "Molting, in combination with a Salmonella infection, created an actual disease state in the alimentary tract of affected hens." Other Speakers will include:
Cal-Maine egg company employee testimony, video footage, and photographs of factory-farmed hens will be available. ![]() United Poultry Concerns, Inc. PO Box 150 Machipongo, VA 23405-0150 757-678-7875 www.upc-online.org
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(UPC/AVAR Forced Molting Press Conference - January 20, 1999) |