Humane Hoax Chicken Webinar

Saturday, September 12, 2020

FREE & ONLINE!

We cordially invite you to sign up for UPC’s Humane Hoax Chicken Webinar Saturday, September 12 for a day dedicated to our feathered friends. Learn from experts about the many issues that impact chickens – the most exploited land animals on Earth, accounting for 97 percent of the farmed animals bred and killed for food. For every pig who is slaughtered, 60 chickens are killed. For every cow who is slaughtered, 190 chickens are killed. Each year, approximately 35 million cows are killed in the United States, yet 35 million chickens are killed every day. It is critical that animal advocates focus their efforts on the plight of these sensitive and complex birds.

We have a prestigious lineup of speakers for our Chicken Webinar, including UPC president, Karen Davis, PhD, who will enlighten us about the hidden truths of the chicken meat and egg industry as well as the humane hoax of “cage-free” and “free-range” eggs. We will learn about chicken rescue and caregiving from an expert with decades of experience, Mary Britton Clouse of Chicken Run Rescue. The webinar will feature a talk by attorney Nora Constance Marino about the ritual of Kaporos, in which thousands of chickens are killed in the streets every fall. Justin Van Kleeck of Triangle Chicken Advocates will address the popularity of backyard chicken-keeping and the resulting tragedy for roosters. A panel of devoted activists will wrap up the day ready to inspire you with ideas on how to take effective action for chickens.

Join us for this first ever webinar dedicated to chickens! Learn about these beautiful birds, why advocates should prioritize them, and how you can help to protect them.

CHICKEN WEBINAR SCHEDULE

Your hosts: Hope Bohanec, UPC, and Justin Van Kleeck, TCA

All times are Eastern Daylight Time

1:00 – 2:00 pm EDT

Karen Davis, United Poultry Concerns

“Humane Eggs” and “Happy Wings”: The Life and Death of Chickens Farmed for Food

2:00 – 3:00 pm EDT

Justin Van Kleeck, Triangle Chicken Advocates

The Terrible Truths of Backyard Chickens

3:00 – 4:00 pm EDT

Mary Britton Clouse, Chicken Run Rescue

Rescued Chickens: What They Want, What They Need and What They Don’t

4:00 – 4:30 pm EDT

Nora Constance Marino, Esq., Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos

Ritual of Killing: Kaporos, Chickens, and the Law

4:30 – 5:30 pm EDT

Activist Panel: Rocky Schwartz, Mahika Gupta, and Julia Magnus (Chicago Roo Crew)

Taking Action for Chickens: Inspiring Activists on the Front Lines

SPEAKERS

Karen Davis, PhD is the President and Founder of United Poultry Concerns, a nonprofit organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl including a sanctuary for chickens in Virginia. Inducted into the National Animal Rights Hall of Fame for Outstanding Contributions to Animal Liberation, Karen is the author of numerous books, essays, articles and campaigns. Her books include A Home for Henny; Instead of Chicken, Instead of Turkey: A Poultryless ‘Poultry’ Potpourri; Prisoned Chickens, Poisoned Eggs: An Inside Look at the Modern Poultry Industry; More Than a Meal: The Turkey in History, Myth, Ritual, and Reality; and The Holocaust and the Henmaid’s Tale: A Case for Comparing Atrocities. Karen’s latest book is For the Birds: From Exploitation to Liberation – Essays on Chickens, Turkeys, and Other Domesticated Fowl.

Justin Van Kleeck, PhD is a freelance writer, educator, and community organizer. Justin spends most of their time working at the Triangle Chicken Advocates sanctuary, which they and their partner founded in 2014, and which inspired them to start The Microsanctuary Movement together later that year. Justin also founded and contributes to the radical vegan blog Striving with Systems.

Mary Britton Clouse has served as President of Minnesota Animal Rights Coalition, co-founded the Minnesota Spay/Neuter Project, Legislative Efforts for Animal Protection and most recently, Chicken Run Rescue (CRR) and Justice for Animals Arts Guild. Since 2001, 1,186 abandoned backyard chickens (and a few other domestic fowl, pigs, goats and sheep) impounded by city shelters have found sanctuary with CRR. Some remain as permanent residents, especially those with special needs, others are placed in carefully trained foster care. CRR started as an inner city home-based shelter but was forced by necessity in 2016 to expand to a rural sanctuary. CRR is committed to teaching and assisting individuals who want to provide a home for rescued birds on a very small scale. CRR strives for the kind of care consistent with Animal Rights philosophy: Provide animals with what they want and need and protect them from what they don’t. By creating a safe, comfortable, aesthetically beautiful and inviting place to share with the birds, others can see them in a different light. Home-based sanctuaries can become a pebble in the pond, enlightening others in their communities towards an animal-free diet.

Nora Constance Marino, Esq., has been a vegan and animal rights activist for sixteen years. She is the attorney who led the ground breaking case, Alliance to End Chickens as Kaporos v. NYPD, all the way up to New York State’s highest court, and put Kaporos on the map. Nora is a highly experienced trial and litigation attorney who frequently engages in litigation on behalf of animals and those who protect them. She speaks regularly at animal rights events, lobbies for animal-friendly legislation, and is a regular on the protest scene. Nora is the President of the Animal Cruelty Exposure Fund, a not-for-profit organization that exposes animal cruelty thorough main stream media. ACEF has gotten five anti-cruelty/pro-vegan commercials on the air in several states across the nation, and is working on its sixth. Nora ran for State Senate in her home state of New York, was a JAG officer in the United States Army Reserves, and is a mayoral-appointee on New York City’s Taxi & Limousine Commission. In her spare time, she sings in a rock band.

Rockwell “Rocky” Schwartz is an NYC-based rescuer, activist, and microsanctuary operator. She has worked at large farm sanctuaries since 2012 and she has helped rescue nearly 4,000 animals throughout the United States over the past four years, specializing in chickens. She believes strongly in the power of sanctuaries to save lives, fight speciesism, and make activists better advocates for other animals. Her own microsanctuary life began when two rescued chickens came to live in her college dorm room. Today, she lives in Brooklyn with her human partner and rescued dog, chicken, and fish companions.

Mahika Gupta is a gender-fluid Indian American chef, artist and community organizer. For the past seven years, they have been a part of various human and non-human justice movements. Mahika currently lives in Philadelphia with their companion chicken Corrie, who was liberated from a slaughterhouse in June 2018. Together they attend protests, marches and community gatherings to advocate for both human and non-human liberation. Currently, they are working to bridge the food inequality gap in their neighborhood through a new planted based food business!

Julia Magnus is an environmental and animal law attorney based in Illinois. She is a founding member and general counsel of Chicago Roo Crew, a female led rescue, education and advocacy group for roosters. Chicago Roo Crew helped facilitate the placement of 114 birds seized from a cockfighting ring in 2019. They have rescued and placed countless dumped roosters, worked with city legislators to combat a city wide rooster ban, and have worked on multiple other cockfighting busts and cruelty investigations. Working with both vegan and nonvegan groups, Chicago Roo Crew is committed to building bridges to end rooster stigma and secure these wonderful birds the love and respect they deserve.