Dear Friend,

A quarter of a century ago, against all odds, I founded United Poultry Concerns as a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the compassionate and respectful treatment of chickens, turkeys, ducks and other domestic fowl. Back then I was told, “We can’t even get people to stop killing whales,” or so an animal advocate exclaimed when I confided my intention to start a national organization for chickens and turkeys. “Do you really think you can get people to care about poultry?”

My answer was, and is, Yes. “These birds have voices, but they need a Voice, a passionate advocacy organization dedicated to them.” Kind of like the Little Red Hen who said she’d bake the bread herself, regardless.

On starting United Poultry Concerns in 1990, I discovered that many people cared about chickens and turkeys and wanted to help them; they just didn’t know there were so many others who shared their feelings. Now they do. And many more people have joined our cause through the years, thanks to our inspiring work.

Today, we have thousands of supporters around the world – people who care about chickens and turkeys and all animals and hate the cruelty they endure in being degraded to the level of “food.” We do not bolster the wish to believe that billions of birds could be raised and slaughtered “humanely.” We don’t say things like, we’re only trying to end “factory farming.” As I wrote in my Comment on The New York Times website in response to an article about the chicken industry on December 4th:

“Having been inside many Perdue, Tyson, ‘cage-free’ and other chicken-production facilities in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and elsewhere, and having written a book about the poultry industry (Prisoned Chickens, Poisoned Eggs), I know firsthand that chickens are living in misery and filth and that they are treated with complete cruelty – regardless of the label their corpses are sold under. There is no dilemma here: if you care about chickens, not just verbally but truly, you will wash your hands of their misery and choose animal-free food of which there are tons of delicious and nutritious choices including chicken-like products, only better and healthier than a dead, contaminated bird.

“Chickens are as sensitive and sociable as the animals we call ‘pets.’ Yet despite their powerful visual and auditory sophistication, their parental wisdom, and so much more, they are confined in dark, filthy, cesspool conditions, lame and artificially bloated with breast muscle, and the advertisings that Perdue and others are doing are lies. It is very sad and needless and also bizarre that despite all the news about bacterial diseases infecting people who handle and eat dead chickens, people seem indifferent, even to their own health.”

We know that the changes we are working to make for billions of suffering birds and a more just and compassionate society are, as journalist Tom Horton wrote about UPC’s endeavor, “a long slog . . . trying to save a world that often acts as if it doesn’t want to be saved.” The challenges are many. But we’re ready.

When I look outside my office window and see our chickens scampering about in their beautiful new outdoor aviary, when I walk outside the backdoor and the little hens and their watchful rooster companions come running up to me – earth angels, I call them – I am honored and blessed by their company and their trust that they are safe and cared for inside our sanctuary.

We know that you share our feelings and our goals, so for all the beloved birds at United Poultry Concerns and everywhere, we thank you for your continuing support in the year ahead.

United Poultry Concerns is a nonprofit organization. Federal ID: 52-1705678. All donations are tax-deductible. A financial statement is available on written request to the Office of Consumer Affairs, PO Box 1163, Richmond, Virginia 23218. Our 990 tax forms, Annual Reports & Audits are posted on our website at www.upc-online.org. To view these documents, click on About UPC on our homepage at www.upc-online.org/more_about_upc.html. Thank you.