Thursday June 25, 2009, 6:56 am
Thank you Jan for alerting me to this abuse – let’s put it out there for the world to see!

Sample letter to the San Francisco District Attorney

erica.derryck@sfgov.org
districtattorney@sfgov.org

Dear Sir
We write with concern regarding the abuse of poultry at the San Francisco Farmer’s Market. We respectfully ask you to pursue prosecution of live animal vendors who violate state laws, and act as accomplices to their customers' violations. To date, you office has refused to prosecute vendors who have been cited for violations of state animal cruelty laws, and (along with Animal Care & Control) incorrectly asserts that poultry are exempt from the laws.
An example of non-prosecution of violations: Raymond Young, approximately 700 violations!
Watch the abuse at UTube!
We insist that you apply valid sections of 597 to protect the poultry from abuse. Some of the abuse witnessed:
California Penal Code: Animal Welfare Provisions!
*tossing them (in the bags) onto the ground from high on the truck
*packing them into cages so tightly they crush each other and can't move or get stuck
* forcibly pulling them out of cages from their feet while they cry out in pain and fear
*tying their feet and leaving them on the ground
*carrying them by their wings. Some animals escape, possibly to die a prolonged and agonizing death through starvation or exposure.

Chickens are sentient life, they feel pain, fear, sadness, joy. The world is moving towards humane methods for the keeping and slaughtering of poultry. Why is your office one of the few in the United States that refuses to enforce the law of animal protection?

We urge you to apply the law in the spirit it was intended.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

``````````````````````

More details:
Live animal vendors at San Francisco's farmers' markets overcrowd animals in direct sunlight with no water, cram animals upside-down in paper bags inside plastic bags, and set aside injured birds for later sale or eventual dispatch. Customers then take them home (often in their car trunks, after carrying them around shopping) and kill them when and how they wish (for food, ritual sacrifice or fighting), unsupervised and unregulated - these "spent hens" (worn-out egg-laying birds) and "small game birds" are exempt from California's poultry slaughter laws, and these birds (along with rabbits) are exempt from federal slaughter laws.
We also witnessed them handling the live animals in abusive ways: tossing them (in the bags) onto the ground from high on the truck, packing them into cages so tightly they crush each other and can't move or get stuck, forcibly pulling them out of cages from their feet while they cry out in pain and fear, tying their feet and leaving them on the ground, and carrying them by their wings. Some animals escape, possibly to die a prolonged and agonizing death through starvation or exposure.
Cruelty to all animals is prohibited by California Penal Code sections 597(a), 597(b), 597a, 597t and 597.3 (597.3 applies to non-"poultry" birds only) - yet authorities currently refuse to fully enforce these laws when it comes to farm animals - even though no animals are exempt (except to the extent necessary for slaughter for food, for hunting and for research). Additionally, California Food and Agriculture Code section 26602 requires that all persons transporting poultry carry appropriate written records or they may be arrested without warrent.
It was also clear, at the Alemany market, that roosters were being sold for the purpose of illegal cock-fighting.
The Humane Society of the U.S. has a good article discussing the San Francisco live market problems here.
These chickens are apparently "spent" hens from an egg factory, purchased by the markets very inexpensively (as they are not "broiler" breeds). Such birds' bodies wear out prematurely - their bones depleted of calcium - after just a couple of years, due to unnatural egg production levels, stress and overall poor health. Click here for more information about commercial egg production and animal welfare.

Thursday June 25, 2009, 7:00 am
Read more about live animal markets here:
Volatile live animal markets - Humane Society - more information!

Thursday June 25, 2009, 7:01 am
Read more about the abuse of hens in battery cages here:
Welfare of hens in battery cages!

Thursday June 25, 2009, 7:05 am
See photos of abuse here:
Photos from U.N. Plaza Farmer's Market - See the abuse!

Thursday June 25, 2009, 7:06 am
More photos of abuse here:
Photos from Alemany Blvd. Farmers Market - See the abuse!

Thursday June 25, 2009, 7:47 am
Done - GRRR - heartless bastards! And chooks are so loveable and quaint - it's unbearable seeing them abused like this!

Thanks, Eureka.

Thursday June 25, 2009, 7:59 am
Emails sent

Thursday June 25, 2009, 8:00 am
letter sent

Thursday June 25, 2009, 8:08 am
If you love chooks (I do) and you appreciate beautifully written English, then give youserlf a break, after sending the emails, click below to read one of the most exquisite stories ever written.
A most beautifully written chook love story

Thursday June 25, 2009, 9:00 am
Tx Eureka
Already done :-)))

Thursday June 25, 2009, 9:51 am
Done

Thursday June 25, 2009, 9:56 am
emails sent. thanks, Eurika.

Thursday June 25, 2009, 9:58 am
Eureka...sorry...very tired. Hope it helps.

Thursday June 25, 2009, 10:12 am
Pam, people are so inured to abuse - that chooks are right at the bottom of the abuse totem pole. When I was in West Africa a few years back I witnessed the same kind of abuse - And the '1st world countries' abuse of poultry is exactly the same as '3rd world countries'. So what makes us think we are so civilised? Barbarism and abuse everywhere...... I bought those chooks hanging by their legs, and then had to find a safe haven for them, in a strange country where I knew no-one. But it all worked out fine in the end.

I'm very grateful to Jan for sending me the pm about this. WE NEED TO LET THE WORLD KNOW THAT CHOOKS ARE SENTIENT LIFE, DESERVING OF RESPECT and yes, LOVE.

PETA's campaign for humane slaughtering of chooks is commendable, no matter how much we disagree with some of their policies. Better not to breed them at all!

GO VEGAN PEOPLE!!

And thank you to all who have actioned here. A chook may not seem as important as a woof/cat/cow, but they are all God's creatures. And Pam, your avatar of you and chook fit this story perfectly!

Thursday June 25, 2009, 11:06 am
I agree Eureka, the problem is that people treatthe animals rather as FOOD or eggs-machines not as SENTINET BEINGS!!!!

HUMANE SLAUGHTERING is as much ETHICAL as PETA (which states that euthanasia of stray animals is also ethical)

the sad fact is that KILLING is an attribute of humanity

Thursday June 25, 2009, 11:22 am
Joanna, there is no such thing as 'humane slaughtering' i agree with you 100%. Killing is killing is killing.

But the world we live in will NOT change over night - we have a long way to go before we can call ourselves 'Ethical'.

I DO NOT agree with PETA's killling of stray animals. That said, PETA has done more than any other organisation on this planet to bring awareness to the public of the abuse of poultry. If man must eat chooks, then dear God, let us still the terror in their hearts before they are slaughtered and many times still alive, thrown into boiling water. Their CAC campaign has already been adopted/pledged by quite a few fast food outlets, except for McDonalds, who is fighting them tooth and nail.

I don't wish for this news story to become an issue about how good or how bad PETA is, however, one simply cannot ignore their pleas for the chooks. I for one applaud it. I also abhor many of PETA's actions, but it does not stop me from supporting them on issues I believe in and where I share their stance.

To break the neck of a chook while it is helplessly crying for liberty and release is horrific. Even more horrific is the meat eater waiting at the end of the line, be it at a Farmer's market or in a grocery store......

To cage the chooks for hte sake of eggs is just as horrific - their hysterical cries is not anything like the contented clucking of a chook scratching around on the ground.

To add growth hormones to chooks in the broilers is a horror beyond horror. Their grotesque growth so that they are the size of a full grown bird within 4 months leads to horrifying injuries and pain.

My disgust at the human race whose insatiable demand for eggs and poultry meat is the cause of all this suffering IS UNLIMITED. No demand = NO SUPLLY!!!

This is an activist site, a site dedicated to the education of humans and the alleviation of the torture of animals, so I make no apology for my statements in this post. This is why I'm here - to walk my talk.

Thursday June 25, 2009, 12:40 pm
Noted, will send letters and cross post with thanks my lovelyEureka for sharing this with us.

Thursday June 25, 2009, 12:49 pm
This is just horrendous!! I have sent the mails.
Thankyou Eureka.

Thursday June 25, 2009, 2:45 pm
Done, Eureka-sent letters last night...thanks---my friend.

Thursday June 25, 2009, 5:41 pm



Thnx Eureka hun!

Friday June 26, 2009, 5:13 am
Horrible. Thank you for the post- sadly noted and e-mails will be sent shortly. Thank you.

Friday June 26, 2009, 6:17 am
NOTED E-MAILED AND POSTED THANK-YOU

Friday June 26, 2009, 6:24 am
Thanks for the heads up, I have emailed and noted.

Friday June 26, 2009, 6:58 am
Emails sent. Thanks Eureka!

Friday June 26, 2009, 7:23 am
DONE!!!!

Friday June 26, 2009, 8:34 am
NOTED and mails sent. Chooks are lovely creatures. I only buy eggs from my neighbour, he is a hobby farmer. His chooks are lying in the sun right now, taking a nice dust bath. His chooks die of old age. Its disgusting to treat any animal like that.

Friday June 26, 2009, 8:44 am
Emails sent. This makes my blood boil...Some big brave man he is standing with his foot on a poor defenseless chicken..Big yellow B.....I hope he suffers one day for his cruelty. There's no excuse for animal abuse.

Friday June 26, 2009, 9:06 am
After sending the letter to the district attorney above, please take the time to sign this petition. The abuse just never stops!
==================================================================================
More news on chicken abuse - they want to increase the abuse in the UK!!
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A new UK government proposal that will make countless chickens' lives even worse. Most chickens raised in the UK for their flesh are already forced to spend their entire lives on litter sodden with their own urine and faeces, and most are already packed into huge windowless sheds at one-and-a-half times the density scientists recommend to avoid "major welfare problems". The birds are selectively bred to make them grow unnaturally fast, which often causes their bones to splinter and puts their hearts and lungs under immense – and sometimes fatal – strain.

As if all this weren't bad enough, the UK government has announced plans to allow even more chickens to be packed in to these living hells that are factory farms.

Petition to Jim Fitzpatrick of the UK

Of course, we don't want any animals to be abused and slaughtered for food, but until everyone goes vegetarian, we must work – with your help – to reform cruel factory-farming practices.

Friday June 26, 2009, 10:27 am
DONE! THANK YOU MY DEAR EUREKA!

Friday June 26, 2009, 1:15 pm
Thank you dear Eureka!!!

Saturday June 27, 2009, 2:44 am
Petition signed, too - thanks, Eureka.

Saturday June 27, 2009, 8:18 am
Emails send and Petition to Jim Fitzpatrick of the UK signed !!!!

Saturday June 27, 2009, 12:07 pm
A very big thank you to the caring members who are speaking up for the chooks. I personally hope the bastard in the picture who tramps on the chook loses his bloody leg....

Saturday June 27, 2009, 2:06 pm
Thanks so much for putting it on the news Eureka! You are the greatest! Jan

Saturday June 27, 2009, 4:28 pm
Thank you, Jan and thank you Eureka for putting this in the news. This is also happening in New york cities live markets. It must stop! These are living breathing beings that at the very least deserve respect and dignity. I have sent several e-mails to all addresses and am still waiting for replies.

Saturday June 27, 2009, 5:20 pm
Tierney, I have also received NIL response to my communications. I wonder if these 'hick' law enforcers can actually read? If they could, they would surely have read the sections of 597 they couild have applied to enforce the law. Methinks they are either illiterate or they think they can get away with murder and abuse - literally...... And you are right, it happens the world over. To be born an animal in this world of hours is a ticket into hell.

if anyone receives a reply to their coms can you please post some feedback here? Thank you all.

Sunday June 28, 2009, 2:41 am
Email is gone out... How disgusting and how disgusting this ... ignorance.!

Sunday June 28, 2009, 11:37 am
sent

Sunday June 28, 2009, 12:02 pm
done...thanks

Sunday June 28, 2009, 4:27 pm
I usually think of California as very progressive, it is shocking that this activity is being allowed.
I also emailed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger by going to: http://gov.ca.gov/interact

Sunday June 28, 2009, 6:56 pm
There is no excuse for causing unnecessary pain and suffering to ANY living being....

Monday June 29, 2009, 5:24 pm
Noted and email sent.

Tuesday June 30, 2009, 4:20 am
This is so sickening, action taken Thanks Eureka xx

Monday July 6, 2009, 12:41 pm
I CAN T HELP THINKING , WHAT KIND OF IDIOT WOULD BEAT UP ON A CHICKEN OR ANY OTHER ANIMAL?

Monday July 27, 2009, 10:40 am
Letters sent. Noted with thanks Eureka.

Monday August 17, 2009, 11:49 am
action taken....any kind of abuse to any kind of animals are wrong!!!!!!