United Poultry Concerns Honors International Respect for Chickens Day

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Apr 29, 2010, 02:54 ET

Group urges people to "Give a Cluck for Chickens – Go Vegan!"

MACHIPONGO, Va., April 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- May is International Respect for Chickens Month and May 4 is International Respect for Chickens Day. United Poultry Concerns (UPC) launched International Respect for Chickens Day in 2005 to celebrate chickens and protest the bleakness of their lives in farming operations.

This year, International Respect for Chickens Day is on dramatic display in the Washington DC Metro Area, where 100 King-Size Bus Posters announce "Give a Cluck! Stick Up For Chickens!" On Saturday afternoon, May 1, UPC will hold a peaceful demonstration in front of the White House urging people to show compassion to chickens by choosing a vegan diet.

People are urged to do an ACTION for chickens on or around May 4. Ideas include leafleting on a busy street corner, holding an office party or outdoor tabling event, arranging a library display, writing a letter to the editor, hosting a vegan open house, or simply talking to family and friends about chickens, and how people can help them.

Chickens evolved in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. Today, they are sealed up in dark, airless, industrial sheds choking with pollution and pathogens. They are painfully crippled and sick with respiratory and intestinal diseases. Public health officials told The Washington Post in 2009 (01/23/09) that today's chickens are "raised in squalor" and "infested with salmonella." The conditions they are in "cause salmonella to thrive."

"Our message is simple," says UPC President Karen Davis. "Please show kindness to chickens by not eating them. Discover the variety of all-vegetarian, vegan foods and cooking ideas. Stick up for chickens. Tell your family and friends how badly chickens are treated, and how cheerful and loving they are when they are treated with respect."

For more information, go to www.upc-online.org and www.upc-online.org/alerts/.

SOURCE United Poultry Concerns