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Cessation of Canandaigua Academy ‘Chicken Project’ Sees Birds to Farm Sanctuary

Twenty Chickens from Controversial Ecology Classroom Unit to Arrive at Shelter in Watkins Glen, New York Today

Watkins Glen, New York – December 4, 2008 – Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization, will take in 20 chickens today from a Canandaigua Academy ecology class for which high school students had been rearing and slaughtering live chickens. The curriculum became the subject of controversy last year based on animal welfare concerns and has since remained a matter of public scrutiny. After months of encouraging Superintendent Donald Raw, Jr. and other academy officials to consider humane ways of teaching students how food ends up on their plates, Farm Sanctuary was alerted today that the project has ceased on order from the New York State Department of Education and was invited to give the birds a permanent home. Several other animal protection organizations, including United Poultry Concerns, PETA and the Humane Society of the United States have also been advocating for alternatives to the project for more than one year.

“We are pleased that Superintendent Raw has allowed for the chickens to be removed from the classroom and placed into compassionate hands at Farm Sanctuary instead of sending them to a slaughterhouse,” said National Shelter Director Susie Coston. “These chickens are broiler hybrids, meaning that they have been bred for their meat and therefore grow very large in a short amount of time. On today’s farms, birds like this are normally slaughtered at 42 days of age, after spending every day of their lives crowded inside large warehouses. At Farm Sanctuary, the chickens will get the special care they need to live happily and comfortably for the rest of their natural lives and will have access to plenty of fresh air, sunlight and nourishing food.”

The chickens rescued today will join Araminta, another chicken Farm Sanctuary took in from Canandaigua Academy last year when a student elected to send her chicken to sanctuary rather than slaughter at the end of the unit. At Farm Sanctuary’s 175-acre shelter for rescued farm animals in Watkins Glen, New York, the chickens will continue to play a role in the education of youth by teaching visitors about the widespread implications of modern animal agriculture, as well as the sentience of these sensitive, social creatures. Farm Sanctuary has extended a standing offer to host tours for Canandaigua Academy students as part of a curriculum incorporating humane education that is required by the state of New York. More information on school and public tours can be found at www.farmsanctuary.org.

Farm Sanctuary is the nation's leading farm animal protection organization. Since incorporating in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has worked to expose and stop cruel practices of the "food animal" industry through research and investigations, legal and institutional reforms, public awareness projects, youth education, and direct rescue and refuge efforts. Farm Sanctuary shelters in Watkins Glen, N.Y., and Orland, Calif., provide lifelong care for hundreds of rescued animals, who have become ambassadors for farm animals everywhere by educating visitors about the realities of factory farming. Additional information can be found at www.farmsanctuary.org or by calling 607-583-2225.