Current Press Releases

Animal Organization Thanks Judge,
Calls Sentence "Constructive and Creative"

June 28, 2004 - Responding to the unusual and widely publicized sentence handed down by Georgia Circuit Court Judge John R. Turner in the recent conviction of teens for killing chickens for amusement, the national organization Farm Sanctuary has sent Judge Turner a letter of thanks.

In addition to requiring the seven teens to spend community-service hours cleaning chicken facilities, Judge Turner ordered them to read and turn in a book report to him about either The Pig Who Sang to the Moon: The Emotional World of Farm Animals or When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals.

"That is the truly creative part of the sentence," says Gene Baur (formerly Bauston), President and Co-Founder of Farm Sanctuary. "Both of those books by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson reveal little-known facts about animals' rich emotional experiences. These do not receive nearly enough attention in a society that treats farm animals as industrial products."

Farm Sanctuary's letter to Judge Turner, sent by David Cantor, who works in the organization's Investigations Department, calls the sentence "constructive and creative" and says it "promises to help the teens understand the enormity of their crime more effectively than would more conventional sentences" and that "it is very important that the public hear the message, from respected officials like you, that this is a very serious crime."

The crime for which the teens were convicted took place in September 2003 when the teens conversed about whether chickens would really run around with their heads cut off as folklore has it. Gathering machetes, knives, and a hatchet, they drove to a farm, stole eight chickens, and beheaded two before the birds' owner caught them.

Explains Bauston, "Farm Sanctuary and its supporters are determined to create a future in which people understand it is unacceptable to kill or torture animals out of curiosity just as it is unacceptable to do the same to people."

About Farm Sanctuary
Farm Sanctuary is the nation's leading farm animal protection organization. Since incorporating in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has worked to expose and stop cruel practices of the "food animal" industry through research and investigations, legal and institutional reforms, public awareness projects, youth education, and direct rescue and refuge efforts. Farm Sanctuary shelters in Watkins Glen, N.Y., and Orland, Calif., provide lifelong care for hundreds of rescued animals, who have become ambassadors for farm animals everywhere by educating visitors about the realities of factory farming. Additional information can be found at www.farmsanctuary.org or by calling 607-583-2225.