May is International Respect for Chickens Month
MACHIPONGO, Va., April 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- International
Respect for Chickens Day, May 4, celebrates the dignity, beauty and life of
chickens and protests against the bleakness of their lives in farming
operations. Launched by United Poultry Concerns in 2005, International
Respect for Chickens Day traces to famed star of The Simpsons, Harry
Shearer, who proclaimed Sunday, May 14, 2000 -- Mother's Day -- National
Respect the Chicken Day to honor the devotion of mother hens to their
chicks.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080429/DC20730 )
In Letters from an American Farmer, historian St. John de Crevecoeur
wrote, in 1782, "I never see an egg brought to my table but I feel
penetrated with the wonderful change it would have undergone but for my
gluttony; it might have been a gentle, useful hen leading her chickens with
a care and vigilance which speaks shame to many women. A cock perhaps,
arrayed with the most majestic plumes, tender to his mate, bold,
courageous, endowed with an astonishing instinct, with thoughts, with
memory, and every distinguishing characteristic of the reason of man."
United Poultry Concerns urges people to do an ACTION for chickens on or
around May 4 -- leafleting on a busy street corner, tabling, writing a
letter to the editor, holding an office party or classroom celebration,
showing the movie Chicken Run, or simply talking to people about the plight
and delight of chickens.
In honor of the event, Minneapolis-based Chicken Run Rescue is holding
its Third Annual Chicken Calendar Photo Contest to capture the beauty of
chickens in a photograph
(http://www.brittonclouse.com/chickenrunrescue/photos08/index.php?x=about). Other
activities are being held in places that include Orange County, Ca.,
Tucson, Az., Oak Park, Il., Almo, Ky., and Philadelphia, Pa. In Washington,
DC, United Poultry Concerns has placed a colorful month-long ad in 220
Metrorail Cars showing a man expressing compassion for a rooster
(http://www.upc-online.org/respect/index.html).
On Sunday afternoon, May 4, UPC will hold a demonstration for chickens
near the American History Museum on the National Mall, and on Thursday
afternoon, May 8, UPC will leaflet people on the Lafayette Park sidewalk
across from the White House, urging everyone to "Show Compassion and Stick
Up For Chickens!"
United Poultry Concerns is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the
compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl. On the Web at
http://www.upc-online.org.
Contact Information
Karen Davis: Karen@upc-online.org
757-678-7875
SOURCE United Poultry Concerns
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