BraveBirds Times Online
April 2004

Online newsletter of the Eastern Shore Sanctuary & Education Center

Soggy Spring: The Sequel
Long-time sanctuary supporters may remember that we were deluged last spring, with rains that washed away much of the topsoil of the main chicken yard and turned our infirmary yard into a morass of muck. While the spring rains this year have been more moderate, we yet again have a number of permanent puddles and, yet again, the only ones happy about it are the ducks.

So, this year, our spring spruce-up will include breaking up hardpan and digging in sand (to improve drainage), along with reseeding rye grass, clover, and alfalfa in the parts of the yards that have been made barren by flooding and mud. We also need to repair a number of fences and clear the land on which we will grow fresh vegetables for the birds. If you can contribute labor, equipment, or materials for these efforts, please let us know!

Ducks, Ducks, Ducks
Speaking of ducks, our newest residents include three young ducklings who were rescued from a live poultry market. While our new web page devoted to ducks is not yet ready, you can get a sneak preview of the ducklings at
www.bravebirds.org/ducks.html

Conferences, Conferences, Conferences
There’s still time to register and attend the (free!) Animal Liberation Student Association conference in Syracuse this weekend (23-25 April). Eastern Shore Sanctuary coordinator Pattrice Jones will give a talk on “Feminist Imperatives and the Animal Liberation Front” and will also appear on the panel concerning activist strategies, with a brief presentation on tactics “From Kiss Ins to Direct Action.” The keynote speech for this conference will be given by United Poultry Concerns president Karen Davis. Other notable speakers include former Black Panther Party member Ashanti Alston and philosophy professor Steve Best. Topics will include controversial subjects such as the relationship of speciesism to social injustice and the practical and theoretical justifications for direct action on behalf of animals. Visit www.cala-online.org/Student_Association/events.htm for information on attending the conference.

Both discussions of controversial issues and exchanges of basic information will be sure to be on the menu at the 5-day national Animal Rights 2004 conference in July. Along with Eastern Shore Sanctuary coordinator Pattrice Jones, many friends of chickens including Karen Dawn of DawnWatch, Lauren Ornelas of Viva!USA, and Miyun Park of Compassion Over Killing will be sharing information and ideas at the conference. Visit www.ar2004.org for information on attending that conference.

The United Poultry Concerns annual Forum will be held on 21-22 August at the Hilton Airport Norfolk Hotel, in Norfolk, Virginia this year. Entitled “Mad Cows to Mad Chickens: What Insiders Can Tell You About Agribusiness, Animal Liberation, and Your Diet,” the Forum will focus on inside information about the meat, dairy, and egg industries. Eastern Shore Sanctuary coordinator Pattrice Jones will give a talk entitled “Deep in the Heart of Poultry Country: Depression, Despoliation & Demoralization on the Delmarva Peninsula.” Other speakers will include many friends of the sanctuary, including Mary Finelli of Farmed Animal Watch, Terry Cummings of Poplar Springs animal sanctuary, author Jim Mason, and former poultry factory worker VIrgil Butler. Visit UPC online at www.upc-online.org for registration information and/or to become a sponsor of the Forum.

Publications
Pattrice Jones’ article, “Corporate Crimes Against Animals,” appears in the current issue of IMPACT Press, which is available in print and online. Not familiar with IMPACT Press? You should be! This excellent free newspaper is published in Florida but distributed nationwide, thanks to the publisher’s willingness to ship multiple copies to anyone willing to distribute them in their neighborhood. It’s a progressive youth-oriented political publication that includes vegan and/or animal-related articles in virtually every issue. In other words, it does what all of us need to do better: get pro-animal ideas and information out to people who aren’t already vegan. Visit www.impactpress.com to subscribe, read selections from the latest issue online, browse the archives, or sign up to be a distributor.

Verse for the Animals
April is National Poetry Month. Often, poetry can express emotions and ideas better than prose. If you haven’t yet, you may want to visit our classic texts page at www.bravebirds.org/classics.html to read (or reread) some classic poetry written in empathy with animals. If you’ve written such poetry yourself, you might want to send a poem or two to us, for possible inclusion in the new cyber-zine we will be launching later this spring.



Eastern Shore Sanctuary & Education Center
13981 Reading Ferry
Princess Anne, MD 21853
410-651-4934
www.bravebirds.org
sanctuary-AT-bravebirds.org