A Look Back on 2005 with EBAA

In Chinese astrology, the Year 2005 animal sign is the Rooster. East Bay Animal Advocates has taken this year’s zodiac symbol to heart in our campaigns and programs.

Nobody can prove that better than Emery, the ‘poster chicken’ of the broiler industry. In mid-September 2005, he was slated to arrive at the frozen food aisle of a local Safeway store–an ‘all natural’ and ‘healthy’ chicken breast fillet courtesy of Foster Farms. Plagued by a crippling case of splay-leg, Emery struggled for access to food and water and was denied veterinary care at one of Foster Farms' massive growout operations. Ninety percent of broilers—meat chickens bred for rapid growth—experience leg problems in addition to heart and lung conditions. Across the country, broilers endure the same plight as Emery everyday.

In a string of luck, this plump rooster made a detour from the normal life of a bird raised for meat. On a warm night this summer, volunteers with East Bay Animal Advocates discovered the disabled 4-week-old chicken. Kissing the California Central Valley goodbye, Emery was relocated to a loving home. Today, he enjoys a new daily routine—sleeping on blankets, gobbling down chicken mash and spaghetti, and sunbathing in the backyard.

Emery’s story of rescue and rehabilitation is just one of the reasons why East Bay Animal Advocates ends 2005 with a sense of delight and a passion to push forward. This year we accomplished the following:

• Launched a campaign against the West Coast’s largest animal abuser –
Foster Poultry Farms
• Rescued 39 chickens from Foster Poultry Farms
• Released our first investigative documentary – Fostering Cruelty in
Chicken Production
• Jointly filed a lawsuit with The HSUS against the USDA for increased
protection of poultry
• Assisted with the rescue of nearly 2,000 spent hens from a Gilroy
battery-cage egg facility
• Distributed thousands of pieces of educational literature to the
public
• Featured in The Associated Press, Reuters, Satya Magazine, Pacifica
Radio & East Bay Express
• Assisted in the May 2005 conviction of a Hayward rabbit abuser
• Formed our Advocacy Author Group
• Organized over 100 outreach events in the San Francisco Bay Area
• Rescued 19 turkeys from slaughter
• Launched 4 new websites about animal abuse in California food
production

To kick-off the New Year, East Bay Animal Advocates will release a new investigative documentary of the California egg industry, host an advocacy film festival in Oakland and continue our fight against the Foster Imposters.

East Bay Animal Advocates and Emery the Rooster would like to extend our deepest appreciation for your support this year.


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East Bay Animal Advocates
P.O. Box 1406
Martinez, CA 94553
(925) 487-4419
http://www.eastbayanimaladvocates.org
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