LANCASTER AnimalrightS
and~the movement’s effect on
today’s poultry industry captured
the attention of more than 40
poultry, producers and industry
people here at the Holiday Inn on
Monday evening.
Pemifield Corporation’s John
Fuller was the kickoff speaker in
this fall’s first Poultry Servicemen
Seminar. He shared his ex
periences at the recent Action for
Life Conference held in Allentown
where animal rights represen
tatives, vegetarians, and animal
welfansts converged to discuss
strategies and ideals.
Voicing his concern about the
potential influence these groups
might have on the ag industry,
FitUer said these people are
"articulate and could surface as
strong leaders.” He described
them as “good people just
misguided” and noted they are
pursuing the animal rights issues
witha "missionary zeal.”
Unlike fanners who understand
the need to take care of their
production animals if performance
is to be achieved, Fidler stressed
most of the animal rights people
have “no concept of what animal
production is like, with no idea
what it takes to feed people today
and the technology needed to do
it,”
Most of the poultry producers
sighed a breath of relief when
Fidler mentioned that for the
present time the ‘rightists’ seem to
BIG FARM POWER AND EQUIPMENT
Experts present disarming facts on animal rights
J»e zeroing in on the abuse of
laboratoryanimals, especially
rabbits used in testing cosmetics.
' However, Fidler commented
farmers “will see more and more
(animal rights pressures) in the
future.” He advised the
agriculturalists to be aware of the
problem and tp not be scared.
“There are probably some places
where we need to improve,” he
concluded.
Echoing his suggestions for self
evaluation'of farm management
practices was Penn State professor
H. B. Graves. He emphasized that
through much of man’s history, he
has been both predator and prey.
Animal domestication, he said, led
to today’s farming practices where
much of the' labor is done
mechanically with little animal
animal contact or even animal
human contact.
Graves cautioned the producers
to be aware of a number of areas
that 'rightists' are concerned with:
preventing the birds from dusting
and roosting due to modern
housing conditions; over
crowding; poor ventilation; ex
treme temperatures, bright lights;
force molting, where bii;ds are
deprived of adequate food - and
water for several days; improper
debeaking; methods used to
destroy chicks; and slaughter
methods.
The Penn State ' animal
behaviorist suggested fanners
look at economic alternatives to
modern production practices by
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Pennfield Corporation’s John Fidler, right,
and Penn State’s H.B. Graves presented an
animal rights update Monday evening, ad
dressing the Poultry Servicemen here, in
studying the animal's natural
behavior and habitat. He
recommended that farmers police
their own industry and develop
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 19,19t1—*15
Lancaster. The meeting was chaired by Penn
State’s Owen Keene, Extension poultry
specialist, center.
ethics codes.
“You’ve got to beat them to the
punch," he admonished. “You
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can’t fight this battle in the court of
popular appeals or by starving
people. You have to disarm the
opposition.”
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