ACTION ALERT: Student Slaughters Live Chicken in Art Class

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UC Berkeley Student Slaughters Live Chicken in Art Class:

Campus Animal Rights Group Demands Prosecution and Expulsion

 

 

BERKELEY, CA (April 1, 2003) – A UC Berkeley campus animal protection group

is calling for the expulsion and arrest of a student who butchered a live

chicken during an undergraduate art class approximately a month ago. The

student in Professor Kevin Radley’s “New Genres” art class, offered egg

salad and chicken to the class and then mercilessly hacked a live chicken to

death with a cleaver.

 

An outraged student, who contacted Berkeley Organization for Animal Advocacy

(BOAA) directly with the complaint, described the brutal killing as

“terrible” and expressed dismay at Professor Radley’s reaction. The

undergraduate whistleblower, who wishes to remain anonymous due to fear of

retaliation, stated that the chicken died a gruesome and bloody death.

Professor Radley would not release the identity of the student when BOAA

contacted him after the incident.

 

“The fact that this brutal slaughter occurred, especially in a classroom

setting, is simply unacceptable,” stated Julie Ahern, Berkeley senior and

coordinator of the animal protection group. “BOAA is demanding that the

student be expelled from the University for this obviously cruel act and

prosecuted for the possible violation of California Penal Code 597, which

prohibits cruelty against animals.”

 

BOAA is urging students and community members to contact UC Berkeley to

demand the expulsion of the student and suspension of Professor Kevin

Radley. Further, BOAA is demanding that UC Berkeley enact an “Anti-Animal

Cruelty Academic Policy” on campus, specifically prohibiting the use of

animals in art or performance.

 

What you can do:

 

1. Demand the expulsion of student who slaughtered the chicken. Call, fax,

and email the Office of the Chancellor:

 

Robert Berdahl

Office of the Chancellor

200 California Hall #1500

Berkeley, CA 94720-1500

Phone: (510) 642-7464

Email: chanclor

Phone: (510) 642.7464

 

 

2. Contact local law enforcement officials and politely urge them to arrest

the student who slaughtered the chicken on charges of cruelty to animals.

Remind them that according to eyewitnesses, the suffering of the chicken was

prolonged as she was being hacked to death.

 

Please write:

 

Commander Linda L. Elliott

Alameda County Sheriff’s Office

1401 Lakeside Drive

12th Floor

Oakland, CA 94612

 

3. Contact the Acting Chair of the Department of Art Practice and urge her

to take disciplinary action against Professor Kevin Radley. Politely demand

that Radley be suspended.

 

Please write or call:

 

Loren Partridge

Acting Chair, UC Berkeley Department of Art Practice

416 Doe Library

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA 94720

Phone: (510) 643-6301

Email: lpart

 

For more information, contact:

Julie Ahern

boaa_action

 

Berkeley Organization for Animal Advocacy (BOAA)

c/o ASUC Office of Student Affairs

University of California

400 Eshleman Hall, MC 4500

Berkeley, CA 94720-4500

 

http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~boaa

 

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