Roosters Killed for 'Fine Featherheads' Are Kept in Far From 'Ethical' Conditions
For Immediate Release:
July 28, 2011
Contact:
Robbyn Brooks 202-483-7382
Boulder, Colo. -- PETA has fired off an urgent letter to Dakota Hills, founder of Boulder-based feather hair extension seller Fine Featherheads, calling on her to immediately remove the false claim on her website that the roosters at Whiting Farms, her company's exclusive supplier of dead rooster feathers, are "treated ethically." In the letter, PETA points out that Hills herself reportedly burst into tears after visiting Whiting Farms and seeing that the roosters there are stacked one on top of another in small "isolation cages" in noisy, windowless sheds, where they remain until they are gassed to death.
"If consumers knew the truth—that the birds at Whiting Farms are confined to solitary cages, mistreated by frustrated workers, and slaughtered solely for the whims of 'fashion'—they'd never latch on to this fad," says PETA General Counsel Jeff Kerr. "Fine Featherheads' false claim that this abuse is 'ethical' is nothing but deceptive advertising designed to mislead shoppers who are concerned about animal welfare."
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
PETA's letter to Fine Featherheads Founder Dakota Hills follows.
July 28, 2011
Dear Ms. Hills:
I am general counsel to PETA and write to demand that you immediately cease making the knowingly false and deceptive advertising claim on your website that the “roosters are treated ethically” at Whiting Farms, your exclusive supplier of dead rooster feathers.
We are informed that you visited Whiting Farms and left sobbing due to the conditions in which the roosters are confined and killed for their feathers. Mr. Whiting himself has described his cruel confinement system as “sentencing [each rooster] to a solitary cage for the last 6 months, with nothing to look at or listen to other than lots of other confined roosters.” Indeed, the roosters are confined in cages often stacked on top of one another in noisy, windowless sheds housing thousands of birds until they are gassed to death so their feathers can be harvested and sold by you.
Moreover, Whiting even admits that birds are subjected to mistreatment at the hands of frustrated handlers, including him. He writes that, when roosters don’t cooperate with farm workers, “[y]our sentiments can quickly shift from wanting to evaluate their necks to wringing [t]hem. Some of my most sheepish moments in life have been after hurling an especially bad rooster across the barn in utter frustration….” It is easy to imagine the extent of such frustration and rage as hundreds of roosters are gathered for gassing each day for your “products.” There is nothing ethical about any of the foregoing circumstances and the only purpose for your contrary contention is to mislead unsuspecting customers.
Upon receipt of this letter please contact me to confirm that you will immediately cease your false statement and that you have removed it from your website. I look forward to hearing from you. Your failure to comply with this letter will require PETA to pursue action with appropriate federal and state regulators to seek an end to your false advertisement.
Very truly yours,
Jeffrey S. Kerr
