BUCK BUCK BUCK...chicken power

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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/15/CMG7DL17JR1.DTL

 

 

Christine Morrissey wants a land of the free for fowl

Sam Whiting

 

Sunday, October 15, 2006

 

 

In the world of animal advocacy, all species need a champion and that is why

Christine Morrissey is fighting for the rights of farm chickens. Morrissey, 25,

lives in an apartment next to the MacArthur Freeway in Oakland, but dreams of

Fresno, and a country life full of free-at-last range chickens.

 

On her unpaid job

 

I run East Bay Animal Advocates on my time off from work. I'm the director.

 

On niche advocacy

 

Over the last couple of years we've zeroed in on farm animal issues in

California.

 

On free-range chickens

 

The phrase is kind of a misnomer. Certainly we applaud consumers for trying to

buy products that are less-cruelly produced. But the bottom line is the federal

guidelines are so weak for free range production that a bird could be outside

for 5 or 10 minutes and a producer could label their products " free range. " It

doesn't mean much, another marketing gimmick.

 

On life on the farm

 

Typically chickens are slaughtered about 45 days old. Their bodies are bred to

grow at such an alarming rate that their internal organs can't keep up.

 

On death on the farm

 

When it is time for slaughter, typically chickens and turkeys have their throats

sliced while they are still conscious. This is an industry practice acceptable

in California and across the United States. We're out to educate the public on

how we can see that it doesn't happen in the future.

 

On improving the lives of chickens

 

We want poultry companies to start using husbandry practices that are more kind

to the animals. Breeding them so they don't grow so fast and develop major

health issues. That they adopt a more humane slaughter procedure. It's called

" controlled atmosphere killing. " The animals are unconscious before they die. We

want them to be gassed.

 

On lethal injection

 

I wouldn't know. Gassing is the preferred method.

 

On motivation to leaflet supermarket parking lots

 

It lies in getting out there and seeing face to face the immense cruelty that

farm animals endure, especially chickens. Seeing it firsthand is the prime

motivator.

 

On the response of shoppers

 

We hear the full gambit. " Why do you care about chickens when humans are

starving? "

 

On the answer

 

We care about everybody. Chickens and other birds raised for meat and dairy

products are the most abused and overlooked animals worldwide, and we want to

highlight that issue. In the United States over 9 billion chickens are raised

for slaughter each year, and the number is growing.

 

On the feelings of chickens

 

I've been around live chickens the last five years and learned that,

personality-wise, they're similar to dogs and cats. They respond to their names.

They can maintain relationships.

 

On having a chicken as a pet

 

Sure, if I had the right living situation.

 

On the right situation

 

Hopefully one day I'll move out to a place like Fresno and provide homes to

abused poultry, chickens and turkeys.

 

On the numbers she'd provide for

 

I wouldn't want to be an animal hoarder, but as many as would provide for a

spacious arrangement.

 

On the space requirements of chickens

 

Per chicken they need at least 10 feet. They run in a flock but they don't stand

on each other in their natural environment.

 

On her parents' reaction

 

It's pretty comical. I say, " I'm going out to leaflet to help out chickens, " and

they say, " Jesus, chickens, what are you talking about? We didn't raise you to

fight for chickens' rights. "

 

E-mail Sam Whiting at swhiting@ sfchronicle.com

 

 

As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances,

there's a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in

such twilight that we must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest

we become unwitting victims of the darkness.

William O. Douglas