An Article Series from All-Creaturs.org 

 

Animal Rights/Vegan Activists' Strategies

Karen Davis's Final Wish Was Fulfilled

From Unparalleled Suffering
December 2023

The persistent advocate for domestic birds got her ashes spread around the entire perimeter of her UPC bird sanctuary.

[Please visit Honoring Karen Davis, PhD, Founder UPC United Poultry Concerns]

Chickens at United Poultry Concerns watch from behind the fence of their enclosure as the ashes of their previous main caretaker, Karen Davis, are spread along the perimeter of the sanctuary.

On November 25th I was in Machipongo, Virginia at United Poultry Concerns attending Karen Davis’s beautiful memorial service. I have a strong sense that she would have been elated with how well this event went. Her favorite part would have likely been the end when her ashes were spread along the edge of the sanctuary by many of the people who came to the sanctuary to honor her life, death, and legacy.

Being cremated and having her ashes distributed around the sanctuary was her final wish. Prior to attending this memorial service I published a tribute to Karen that you can read here... I'll Miss Karen Davis As One Of My Favorite People And Favorite Activists Of All Time,and I just uploaded a video of the scatter ceremony that you can watch here.

Karen Davis grew up in a family where unfortunately others didn’t share her same sensitivity and compassion for nonhuman animals. Her father was an avid hunter and in his ideal world Karen and her three brothers would have been pro-hunting as well. All three brothers grew up participating in the destruction of innocent animals by way of hunting, but Karen rejected this form of unnecessary violence.

It wasn’t until after she passed away in early November that her siblings, especially two of the three, even began to know and understand what their sister was all about and what she had passionately, tirelessly, and brilliantly been advocating for over the past few decades. They were only able to begin to understand because Karen’s passing produced major press articles, which helped to highlight just how much of an impact she’s had. After she died the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and other publications published articles about her.

As smart as she was, even Karen probably couldn’t have predicted the coverage her death would engender around the world. The video below is Karen’s brother Amos speaking at the memorial after traveling to be there with his son, Amos, from Louisiana.

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Please read the ENTIRE ARTICLE INCLUDING PHOTOS HERE.

Taking photos of Karen and the birds at her sanctuary in May of 2019.

 

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