There is a lot of misinformation going around here so allow me to clear some things up. I am speaking in general about seizures, raids etc. This is not specific to the recent turkey case. Its in response to information being presented here about our rescues practices that are incorrect.
Normally when there is a criminal investigation and animals are seized they have to be housed somewhere. This is generally where a rescue steps in. At that point they are only allowed to care for them they don't have ownership. In some cases owners will surrender them early because they want to negotiate for reductions in charges. This helps law enforcement because they bear the burden
of paying for care until such time ownership can be released to someone else. If animals are being held and you feel they need to be euthanized you must get permission to do so. We don't get to make those decisions unless animals are owned by us, in most cases they are not.
I have had cases where the judge makes a preliminary ruling to release animals if the evidence calls for. If they don't and the people fight the charges then you may be stuck caring for animals for weeks, months or years. If a case has a large number of animals and a rescue can't hold them they sometimes need people to help them foster. Sometimes the court doesn't allow fostering off site. It just depends
These kinds of events don't happen without many "experts" having their hands in the cookie jar. Usually if your asked to participate its because you have some experience in the field. I don't think anyone who emailed me with all the "answers" had a clue about my intentions, my experience or my background or even who the players were than were already involved. I know people think their inquiring minds need to know everything but some things can not be made public during criminal investigations.
No member of the public would ever be given a sick animal from us and we have never "spread disease around the country" all of our birds are quarantined, healthy and tested for disease before they cross states lines. This would be strictly monitored in a high profile criminal case as with every other detail. I wish I could say food production animals were disease free but they don't test for many ailments these birds carry and even when obvious they don't pull them because they don't want to loose money. Do you feel good about eating a bird a few days away from dying of asper, how about sever upper respiratory disease? Your already eating pus and feces, lets throw some mucous in too! Maybe that's one of the colonel secret spices, yum yum. If your living under the misconception that this isn't the case please feel free to email me and I will fill you in on my many experiences. Despite another incorrect assumption this is far from my first rodeo.
No one said birds would go straight to fosters. No one told anyone specifically they would get anything at any time. All we did was ask to collect a list of people who were willing to help so we could have it ready in the event it was needed. Nothing else is fact.
Its not the mission of a rescue to provide animals for anyone to kill. It completely defeats the purpose of taking an animal out of a bad situation just to put them into a bad situation. To an animal having your throat cut constitutes a bad situation. Not everyone supports efforts of rescue and its a free country you have the right to your own opinions and we have the right to run our operation in a manner that gives us a clear conscience. When I look into the mirror its my face I see its not replaced with your conscience or someone else values. I have to do things the way I know is right. When you put 14 hours a day, 7 days a week and all your money into your own rescue please feel free to put 100s more of your own hours and dollars into an animal and then eat it. As I said its a free country.
I commend people who raise their own food because you aren't contributing to cruelty or eating who knows what disease, chemicals or hormones. I couldn't do it but I would rather see that than see what was in the video they played about things that happen at these factory farms. Most animals raised for food by individuals have a semblance of a natural or normal life. This is not always the case for rescued animals. If you have ever driven by a turkey barn and seen one looking out. They stare out the window longing to know what the sunshine and fresh air feel like. Seeing that you'd know these turkeys have never had any normal life, natural behaviors or happiness. If i had the chance to take one outside, if only to let him know what its like to breath air that doesn't make you choke and cough, it would be worth it.
It's not the goal of any rescue I know to keep animals alive just so they can watch them be in pain or suffer. We care greatly about quality of life and don't send any animals out who won't have one. To state we would do otherwise means you just don't know anything about our practices. A difficult part of rescuing is sometimes just putting an end to suffering. Its not the outcome we want but its part of the job.
If you have questions email us. We are happy to talk about what we do when someone is polite and sincere. We truly appreciate all those who have expressed genuine concern and caring for the animals. I am thankful for some of the really great supportive people I have met this week.
