Karen Davis made people think for the first time about who birds raised on farms truly are. That chickens, who are among the most abused individuals on the planet, have thoughts, feelings, and hopes for a pain-free existence, just as we do. She was also unafraid to offend or court controversy, as evidenced by the title of her third animal rights book 'The Holocaust & the Henmaid’s Tale: A Case for Comparing Atrocities'. The book argued that there were significant parallels between the murder of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust and the mistreatment of animals at factory farms.
HARRISON SMITH: Karen Davis, an academic turned animal rights activist who campaigned on behalf of chickens, turkeys and other barnyard fowl, arguing for the dignity of “nonhuman animals,” as she put it, while promoting veganism, crusading against the modern poultry industry and turning her home into a sanctuary for chickens, died Nov. 4 at her residence in Machipongo, Va. She was 79…
Her death was announced by United Poultry Concerns (UPC), a nonprofit organization she founded in 1990 and led until her death. The group did not cite a cause, but Ms. Davis had cancer and had been in declining health after a fall in 2021…
“She was pretty private about her illness,” Franklin Wade, a UPC vice president, said in an email. “She didn’t want people worrying about her and interrupting her to see how she was doing. She had work to do. She never slowed down.” “In her mind,” he added, “you just find what you were meant to do, and you do it.”
For Ms. Davis, that meant organizing, writing, lecturing and protesting on behalf of domesticated birds, including the more than 9 billion chickens slaughtered each year in the United States…
Ms. Davis “made countless people think for the first time about who birds raised on farms truly are,” Ingrid Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, wrote in a blog post Monday. “Her work helped humans recognize that chickens, who are among the most abused individuals on the planet, have thoughts, feelings, and hopes for a pain-free existence, just as we do”…
She turned to activism, leaving the University of Maryland after 12 years as a teacher to compile vegan recipes, publish a quarterly magazine for UPC and write books including “Prisoned Chickens, Poisoned Eggs” (1996), a scathing takedown of slaughterhouses and processing plants, which she considered incubators of suffering and disease.
While poultry companies insisted that their chickens were killed humanely, Ms. Davis scoffed, insisting that they were missing the point. “What’s the best way to slaughter babies?” she would ask, rhetorically… At times, however, her uncompromising approach to animal rights could be alienating and abrasive.
Martin Rowe, executive director of the Culture & Animals Foundation, noted in a tribute that “she was unafraid to offend or court controversy,” as evidenced by the title of her third animal rights book, “The Holocaust & the Henmaid’s Tale: A Case for Comparing Atrocities” (2005). The book argued that there were significant parallels between the murder of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust and the mistreatment of animals at factory farms.
“Timidity and reticence were not what the chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, and other domesticated birds she dedicated so many decades of her life to defending needed,” Rowe wrote. “Their plight demanded someone who was not afraid to speak out, and that person was Karen”…
The growth of factory farms seemed only to increase Ms. Davis’s commitment to her cause. Once, The Post reported in 1999, she received a letter from a skeptic who insisted that she would never be able to end the animal cruelty she railed against. She replied, “There’s nothing you can do but as much as you can, in your allotted lifetime”. SOURCE…
STATEMENT FROM UNITED POULTRY CONCERNS (UPC):
Dear Friends,
It is with a heavy heart that we share with you the passing of Karen Davis, PhD. After a long illness, she passed away peacefully on the morning of November 4, 2023 at the UPC sanctuary surrounded by her beloved birds. She has been a leading figure in the Animal Rights movement, passionately, tirelessly and unapologetically advocating for the birds. She has been an inspiration to many of us. We will continue her vision and legacy through our sanctuary at Machipongo, VA, and vegan advocacy work to promote our mission. We will be sending information about a memorial service to celebrate Karen’s life and work.
Sincerely,
All of us at UPC
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