AR Organizations to the Rescue
February 14, 2003

A meeting was held on February 13, 2003 in Marina Del Rey, CA spurred by a small group of concerned, committed people who were trying to fight the public policy in total slaughter of their pet backyard poultry. Some of those in attendance were persons familiar to us from various newspaper articles, such as Randy Walker and his family and Mike and Sue Swallow. However, the blatant killing had prompted some strong forces to gather in their support and included such organizations as the Hillary Chicken Memorial Fund, the Last Chance for Animals, the American Freedom Foundation, the Humane Farming Association, the United Poultry Concerns, Inc., The Fund for Animals, The United States Humane Society, attorneys representing said interests and Dr. Frank Lavac, a noted Certified Avian Veterinarian.

The State and the USDA were represented by Annette Whiteford, head of the task force, John C. Dyer, Staff Counsel for the CDFA and Jack Shere, Co-Commander of the Task Force for the USDA.

The results of this meeting have promised a home quarantine for healthy flock provided there is no link to other infected property. The owner MUST be practicing good biosecurity.

We hope to give you further first-hand information from this meeting, however, the good news is that if the CDFA and USDA stick to their word, the senseless killing of healthy birds should cease. It is our opinion that any deviation from this accord would be followed up by an almost immediate restraining order against the CDFA and the USDA which could put a total halt to any killing. The attorneys representing the Animal Rights organizations will be definitely on guard.

See Media (LINK) on this meeting.