This is a follow-up to my previous post about the 10 fighters and 4 juvenile fighters and hens we took in a couple of weeks ago. I couldn’t say anything about this until I knew that all the rest of the birds had been taken to safety. Now they are safe, so now I can share with you another gruesome aspect of this rescue (beyond the reason for the rescue itself).
Over 80 birds (fighters and juveniles) were taken to SUNY Cobleskill after being confiscated in the raid. They were to be cared for pending the legal release of the birds as well as ideally finding homes for the birds. By the time we knew of their existence, 40 of the birds had been murdered for use in the classroom. Some of them were killed for Anatomy and Physiology classes, and others were killed so students could see if there were any biological differences between chickens raised to fight and chickens raised for food.
I was told by the officer (who was otherwise an extremely strong advocate for these birds) that “at least some good will come of it.” I have learned over the years to bite my tongue in such situations until everyone is safe. When Cheryl picked them up at the school, she bit her tongue too when she learned exactly how the other birds had been killed. When the woman from the other place picked up the remaining birds, she did the same thing.
But now we are free to openly announce this betrayal of these birds. It is horrifying enough that so many of these gorgeous creatures are killed because they have no homes to go to. It’s quite another for them to be murdered to further the cause of the flesh-purveyors — to help them become ever better at the art of raising, tormenting, and killing other animals for profit.
Please advocate for these roosters! Please contact your local HSUS, ASPCA, and ACC and let them know that fighters can be rehabilitated, and you know of at least two places where it happens all the time. Urge them to seek placement for the birds before they decide to summarily euthanize them. Next, send a letter to the agricultural college closest to you and let them know exactly what you think of their “animal husbandry” programs and classes. Tell them that teaching people to better profit off the very pain, the very bodies, of others is no way to make a living.
Then go vegan if you haven’t already. Whether chickens are used for food or fighting, they are still being used. They are being created and manipulated, murdered and sold, for one reason or another. Don’t give in to the belief that this must be so; countless people eat a plant-based diet and are healthier and happier for it, if only because we know we are minimizing the suffering in this world. We can do it. So can you. The roosters depend upon it.
I’m not sure I understand exactly who is financially profiting by this horrid research. The university, which get grants to conduct experiments? The cockfighters?
Having said ALL that, you are right that the furor over cats going to labs would be far greater than this. That speaks not only to the species-centric approach we have toward animals, but also, as you note, to the sad truth that there are not many places that will take these guys in, whereas cats have relatively far more options (still not enough, of course)….. In other words, as noted in the blog post, roosters often are killed after rescues because there is nowhere to place them, but painless euthanasia cannot ethically, by any remote stretch of the word, be coupled with subsequent research, especially when conducted by students of agriculture whose ultimate goal is to learn how better to kill these animals.
Thank you for re-habing these 10 lucky roosters. In due time I’m certain they will fit right into any flock and make fine company for care-givers as well.