OWNERS OF STANISLAUS COUNTY’S A&L POULTRY SUED AFTER 50,000 EGG-LAYING HENS LEFT TO STARVE TO DEATH

Farmed Animal Sanctuaries Rescued Almost 4500 Birds

May 17, 2012

Contact:

Kim Sturla (Animal Place): 530-798-5118; kim@animalplace.org
Lisa Franzetta (ALDF): 707-795-2533, ext. 1015 (office); 415-203-5472 (mobile); lfranzetta@aldf.org
Meredith Turner (Farm Sanctuary): 646-369-6212; mturner@farmsanctuary.org
Christine Morrissey (Harvest Home): 209-639-6781; Christine@HarvestHomeSanctuary.org

MODESTO, Calif. – This morning, three non-profit animal sanctuaries—Animal Place, Farm Sanctuary, and Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary—filed a complaint in the Stanislaus County Superior Court, seeking justice for 50,000 hens who were abandoned this past February by the owners of A&L Poultry, a Turlock egg production facility. The sanctuaries are represented by attorneys at the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) and Schiff Hardin.

When the birds were discovered after two long weeks, the plaintiffs responded to A&L Poultry’s shocking and illegal cruelty by rescuing almost 4,500 surviving hens, who were all starved and severely dehydrated—and, in so doing, shouldered the egg producer’s legal duty to care for their animals. Today’s lawsuit seeks to place responsibility on the guilty parties who caused the suffering of tens of thousands of helpless animals.

The case centers on California’s largest-ever rescue of farmed animals. The hens were crammed into cages so small that they could not stretch their wings. Hens struggling to survive intermingled with the 20,000 hens who had already perished. Dozens of chickens had fallen out of their cages and struggled to avoid drowning in the giant manure pits below the buildings. Many were so sick that they could not stand, hold up their heads, or eat and drink.  The sanctuaries provided emergency care to the emaciated and suffering animals, and have been nursing them back to health.

“After 48 hours of camping outside of the egg farm, Animal Place took in 4,100 of the starving hens to our two sanctuaries,” stated Kim Sturla, Animal Place’s executive director. “The highlight of Animal Place’s efforts is watching these hens experience daylight, grass, love, and affection for the first time in their lives.”

“We can’t begin to imagine what these poor animals suffered as a result of the defendants’ reckless disregard for their welfare,” says Bruce Friedrich, Farm Sanctuary’s senior director for strategic initiatives. “No remedy is severe enough, but at the very least they should be held fully accountable by the courts.”

"The lawsuit the Animal Legal Defense Fund is filing on behalf of the plaintiffs who rescued the thousands of hens left to die seeks to place the expense of dealing with the tragic aftermath of this act of cruelty on the owners of A&L Poultry, who blatantly violated California law and never looked back," says ALDF executive director Stephen Wells.

Copies of the lawsuit and footage of the rescue effort are available upon request.

Animal Place is one of the oldest and largest sanctuaries specializing in the rescue and care of neglected and abused farmed animals. Animal Place provides permanent refuge to hundreds of animals on 600-acres in Grass Valley, CA. Animal Place’s Rescue Ranch rescues and re-homes more than 3,000 chickens and other farmed animals annually at its 60-acre Vacaville, CA site. Visit animalplace.org to learn more.

ALDF was founded in 1979 with the unique mission of protecting the lives and advancing the interests of animals through the legal system. For more information, please visit aldf.org.

Farm Sanctuary, the nation's leading farm animal protection organization, promotes legislative, policy, and individual lifestyle changes to help farm animals. Farm Sanctuary's shelters in New York and California provide lifelong care for more than 1,000 rescued farm animals. For more information, please visit farmsanctuary.org.

Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary is a farmed animal rescue, rehabilitation, and humane education center in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The Stockton-based rescue organization currently operates a two-acre rescue facility that provides lifelong refuge for animals representing thirteen species. For more information, please visit HarvestHomeSanctuary.org.

Media Inquiries
Kim Sturla
Executive Director
530-798-5118
kim@animalplace.org
Hens are still located at our Vacaville and Grass Valley facilities - video and photographic opportunities available.

About Animal Place
Founded in 1989 Animal Place is one of the oldest and largest sanctuaries for farmed animals in the country, operating two facilities in northern California. Nestled on 600-acres in Grass Valley, CA, Animal Place's primary sanctuary provides refuge to hundreds of neglected farmed animals. Animal Place strives to create meaningful change for farmed animals through advocacy and education. Thousands of visitors flock to the sanctuary each year to learn more about the animals and farming. Volunteer classes introduce folks to more ways people can help. Internships are also available. For more information visit, www.animalplace.org or call 530-477-1757.

About Animal Place's Rescue Ranch
Started in 2010 on the former 60-acre site of Animal Place's sanctuary, Rescue Ranch is a unique program that involves working directly with farmers and animal control agencies to take in farmed animals who would otherwise face slaughter or euthanasia. Each year, thousands of farmed animals, primarily chickens from the egg industry, are rescued, rehabilitated and rehomed.

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