Patty recently returned from a USA speaking engagement where she addressed the annual United Poultry Concerns (UPC) Forum in Virginia.

Thanks to Karen Davis, founder of United Poultry Concerns (UPC) for inviting me to give a talk at their annual forum in Virginia USA.. I think I’d rather do anything than fly in a plane but it was great to be part of this conference and to show recent footage our rescue team took inside a parent bird breeding factory for egg laying hens. I wrote about this rescue in an earlier blog, Tears and Loyalty, but to my knowledge undercover footage of this relatively unknown aspect of the egg industry hadn’t been shown before.

The footage was only approximately four minutes and it’s main impact is the voices of the birds - for once they can speak for themselves. The roosters crow continually while the hens scream non-stop; it appeared they had all gone mad.

The backs of the hens were red raw from constant mating. The roosters were packed tightly in the sheds with them, it is wall to wall exhausted birds, every single one bedraggled and miserable. But the roosters were still humping the hens and holding tightly to the backs of their necks with their beaks while doing so.

There is no respite or escape for either the hens or roosters for a solid twelve months. All eggs laid by the hens go into incubators to hatch and the female chicks (who mum and dad will never know much less even see) become battery hens, barnlaid hens or free range hens. Meanwhile, the male chicks are ground up alive in industrial blenders, or gassed in plastic bags because they don’t lay eggs.

Please click here to spend four minutes with these birds. The more of us who are with them, (even for just four minutes) the more informed and passionate we will be to help them.

And help is on the way! In the USA the vegan message is sprouting faster than grass in spring, Many of us by now will be aware that Oprah has signed on for a three week vegan diet. My family usually turn a deaf ear to my vegan urgings but now with the doyen of daytime TV stepping up to the plate, people are opening their eyes. Check out Oprah’s kind journey here http://www2.oprah.com/foodhome/food/cleanse/blog/blog_1.jhtml

And meanwhile Ellen, America’s other TV Wonderwoman had Skinny Bitch authors Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin on her show with some of their delicious vegan recipes. Have a look at the segment here: http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2008/05/how_about_some_delicious_skinn.php

I visited my mother, two brothers and two sisters in the California desert after the conference. I was out of toothpaste not tested on animals so asked for the nearest health food store. WOW, when I followed my sister’s directions it was not a little corner shop but a mega-supermarket. Seriously, I stood in awe when I walked inside and could hardly move. Aisle after aisle of vegan choices… that’s plural - as in CHOICES! Tofurky, Boca Burgers, countless varieties and brands of tempeh, tofu, vegan mayo and salad dressings, frozen meals, pumpkin pies, vegan ice creams, pies and cakes, organic fruits and vegetables. We all know of course, that most of these items are ‘treats’ and the best vegan diet is eating plenty of fresh vegetables, fruit, beans, grains and nuts while keeping processed foods to a minimum. Did I have fun! I filled the shopping cart and my mother’s freezer/fridge.

Melbourne is right up front with following this trend, just being voted the Vegan capital of Australia, and one of our Animal Liberation Youth leaders, Anikee is busy setting up a vegan grocery store in Brunswick (more on that when it opens!)

Not so much fun was to discover two dairy feedlots and rows of egg sheds a half hour drive from my mother’s place. It’s desert territory with beautiful mountains surrounding it, but the sprinklers were on growing the grasses/crops to feed the cows locked in barren lots and the hens locked inside dim sheds. The time is approaching on a global scale when we simply won’t be able to be so wasteful. The animals and starving people are eagerly waiting for this time to come - for them it’s a matter of life and death, for us it’s a food addiction.

And finally, hats off to the wonderful activists who were busy saving this little piglet from a horrible Melbourne piggery while I was shopping in the USA. Pig Rescue - April ‘08 (view more)