Rescue & Adoptions

2006 Featured Rescues

Phyllis, Eileen, Diane, and Agnes

In early May 2006, while walking near her home in New York City, a Farm Sanctuary staff member noticed a group of men talking to one of her neighbors. The men had two large pit bulls with them and a box tied up with string sitting at their feet. Although she felt as though something were amiss and wanted to know what was in the box, the woman did not approach the men. She knew that if she asked, the men would probably tell her it was none of her business. Once the group had left with their dogs, however, she approached her neighbor and asked about the men. The neighbor explained that the men had live chickens in the box. They were heading to the park to train their dogs to fight and planned on using the birds as bait.

Making a courageous decision to try to save the chickens, the woman ran to the nearest park to look for the men. She arrived just as they were about to release the chickens from the box. Walking right up to them, she announced that they could not let their dogs touch the chickens. The men grew very angry when she said this and began cursing and stomping around. One of the men said that he had bought the chickens and that she couldn't tell him what to do with them. The woman then attempted to call the police, and one of the men threatened to break her phone. After a few more tense moments, however, the men walked away. The man holding the box dumped the chickens into an area of the park that was fenced and then left.

Thankfully, the woman was able to catch all four chickens and gently place them under a plastic crate she found nearby. Then, with the help of two strangers who brought her a box, she was able to carry the chickens away to safety. Once at her home, the woman gave the birds food and water. The next day, she took them to the vet to get checked out. They were very thin, had long, unkempt nails, and had very few feathers on their necks, but were quite healthy otherwise. To be safe, the woman also had the birds tested and cleared for any diseases that could have been spread to the resident birds at Farm Sanctuary. A short time later, members of our Emergency Rescue Team arrived to transport the birds to our New York Shelter.

The four lucky chickens — now named Phyllis, Eileen, Diane, and Agnes — love it here already. They are currently being housed in the small animal hospital attached to our live-in caregiver house, so that they can be monitored day and night. All four are eating and drinking well, exploring their new surroundings, and enjoying dust baths in the sun. They have also each received a full body exam, had their nails trimmed and are being treated for parasites. Despite all that they have been through, they don't seem to mind being handled and are enjoying the companionship of their human caregivers.

At Farm Sanctuary, chickens are treated with the dignity and respect all living creatures deserve. But as this story makes clear, elsewhere in the world they are more often treated with callous disregard and outright cruelty. Frequently, they are valued only insofar as they are useful to humans and are deemed undeserving of any rights and protections at all. In a perfect world, there would be no stories like this one to tell. But until such a compassionate world can be realized, Farm Sanctuary will continue to offer comfort and refuge to those precious animals who are abused, forgotten and cast aside. We cannot rescue all who are suffering, but we will never give up trying to save as many as we can.