Animal Place
July 2013
From cages to homes and sanctuaries, Animal Place has secured the release
of 3,000 hens from a California "egg laying" hen farm. For two years, these
hens have lived in cages. Now they will be free with the help of Animal
Place and our partnering shelters and sanctuaries.
Over the next two days (July 29th, July 30th), Animal Place staff, interns,
and volunteers will pull hens from their cages and transport them to our
Grass Valley sanctuary where they will receive around-the-clock care. A
thousand hens will go to our Rescue Ranch shelter, where they will be
welcomed by 580 hens from another battery caged "egg laying" hen farm. After
they are health-checked, they will be transferred to other sanctuaries,
shelters, or permanent homes.
"For more than two years, these hens have only known the small space of a
cage", says Marji Beach, Animal Place Education Director, "Now free they
will touch the grass, feel the sun, and stretch their wings for the first
time." The hens arrived with severely overgrown toe-nails. All had been
de-beaked, in which a portion of their beak is cut off without pain relief.
In 1-2 weeks, a thousand will fly to New York to be welcomed by
sanctuaries and shelters on the east coast including Catskill Animal
Sanctuary, Farm Sanctuary, Lollypop Farm, and Woodstock Farm Animal
Sanctuary.
The Sacramento SPCA, Sonoma Humane Society, and the Marin Humane Society
will also be accepting hens. Sanctuaries up in Oregon and Washington will
also be taking in hens, including Lighthouse Farm Animal Sanctuary, Wildwood
Farm Sanctuary, and Pasado's Safe Haven.
The large scale of this operation has only been possible with the shelter
and sanctuary community coming together to help.
Animal Place is no stranger to large-scale hen rescues. Last year, we
spear-headed the rescue of 4,460 hens from Turlock, California where two
farmers left 50,000 hens without food for more than two weeks. Over a year,
we placed most of the hens we rescued into permanent homes through our
Rescue Ranch adoption program.
Since 2010, more than 8,000 chickens – most from egg farms – have been saved
and rehomed, avoiding unnecessary slaughter thanks to Animal Place's Rescue
Ranch.
The farm, which will remain confidential, reached out to us after receiving
a packet of information on our Rescue Ranch program…which asks egg farmers
to relinquish custody of hens instead of sending them to slaughter. To date,
this is the largest farm that has agreed to release birds to our sanctuary.
While we work towards the end of farmed animal exploitation, when we can
help the nonhumans already in existence, we will do so.
You can help:
Donate towards the care of the hens! A bag of chicken feed is $18 and will
feed hens for a week.
Apply to adopt some of the hens! Fill out a form here. There is nothing more
special than providing a loving, permanent home to these incredible hens. text
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