chicken little gets freedom from Katrina

[Guest guest]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/09/13/BAGP6EMQ951.D

TL

---

Tuesday, September 13, 2005 (SF Chronicle) 1,000 chickens that rode out the

storm now escape the frying pan/Vacaville woman leads rescue effort at

Mississippi farm Diana Walsh, Chronicle Staff Writer

 

 

Hurricane Katrina left behind a still untold death toll, but it

apparently spared the lives of some 1,000 lucky chickens.

Now, instead of meeting their fate in a Mississippi slaughterhouse, the

birds are on their way to the Bay Area and other parts of the United States

where they will live out the rest of their lives in sanctuaries and

backyards.

" Some folks say, 'Why save chickens when there are people and dogs and

cats to save?' " says the birds' savior, Vacaville resident Kim Sturla, who

traveled to Mississippi to rescue the chickens after learning about their

plight on television.

" I'm looking at it from the perspective of their lives, " she said.

" The

life of the chicken is as important to him as the life of the dog or cat is

to them. "

Sturla, who runs an animal sanctuary in Vacaville, said she wasn't alone

in her mission. She was joined by several employees from the Humane Society

of the United States and an animal sanctuary volunteer from New York.

The group rescued the chickens from a badly damaged Mississippi poultry

farm last weekend. The birds had been housed in a shed that was torn apart

in the storm, and the owner, who contracts with Tyson Foods, had no place to

put them.

At first, Sturla's group had trouble finding the " broiler " farm. They

asked U.S. Department of Agriculture workers. They asked other farmers and

even grocery store employees if they knew where they might find the badly

damaged farm where they might be able to save a few chickens.

" I'm sure it was a strange request, but no one made light of it, " said

Sturla. " There was no rudeness. They didn't mock us. They just said you came

out from California to do what? "

When they finally found the farm, there was more death to be found than

life, she said.

" There were thousands dead -- they were scattered around like trash, "

she

said. " The odor is indescribable. It's just of death and of rotting bodies. "

Chickens aren't easily caught during the day, but by nightfall, the group

began collecting the scattered birds and placing them in a makeshift holding

pen. In just two nights, the group collected about 1,000 birds -- including

19 that had been bulldozed into a burial pit with thousands of dead chickens

and inches of maggots.

" Thank God we walked by that pit one last time, " said Sturla, describing

the difficult conditions the group faced.

Sturla, who also rescued two black kittens from a garbage Dumpster, said

that half of the saved chickens were now headed for New York. The other half

are on their way to Texas, where they will spend a few days getting stronger

before they can be transported elsewhere. Sturla said a minimum of 100 would

be brought to her Vacaville sanctuary, which is home to about 350 farm

animals, and she will commit more if she can find local residents willing to

adopt them.

" The irony is this disaster saved their lives, " she said. " We'll

do

everything we can to give them a comfortable life. "

 

E-mail Diana Walsh at dwalsh.

----

Copyright 2005 SF Chronicle

 

 

 

I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can still do

something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the

something that I can do.