For all of us involved in this rescue, it is impossible to forget. From the scent of death to the feel of fragile, starving bodies struggling to survive. So compromised was their health that few Turlock hens are alive today. The living ones serve as daily reminders why Animal Place does this work - for them. Below is the sequence of events that led to the largest rescue of neglected and abused animals in California history. All of us who were there will never forget and we hope you won't either.
2014 updates
As of 2014:
- Both criminal and civil cases move forward against the owners of A&L Poultry.
- 50 of the 150 hens Animal Place took in remain alive. Animal Place took in the sickest of the sick, so it is unsurprising how many have died. Approximately 700 of the 4,460 hens Animal Place saved died from their treatment at the farm. Approximately 3,000 were placed into permanent homes.
- Of the surviving hens adopted into permanent homes, an estimated 1,800 are alive.
- 30% of Turlock adopters were so moved by the rescue and story that they adopted a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle.
The Rescue Diaries - Wednesday February 22, 2012
Inside the Largest Farm Animal Rescue in California History
Each person quoted below is an Animal Place employee or volunteer. On February 23 and 24, 2012, Animal Place coordinated the rescue of 4,460 starving hens from a Turlock egg farm. The birds had not seen food in more than two weeks. It is impossible to fully convey the enormity of this rescue. The people who were there give you a glimpse into the heartache and triumph of this rescue operation. Staff from both the Grass Valley and Vacaville facilities participated.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
4:00 pm – “Doing a last check of an event posting when I see the headline, ’50,000 hens starved in Turlock’.” – Marji Beach, Education Manager
4:05-5:30 pm – “Calls are put into the Stanislaus County Animal Control department and Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary, located an hour from the egg farm. We send two staff from Vacaville down immediately.” – Kim Sturla, Executive Director
7:00 pm – “I call the director at animal services. She is told by state veterinarians we can’t take any birds. I won’t take no for an answer. There are thousands still alive.”– Kim Sturla
8:00 pm – “We arrive at the farm, only to be told to get off the property. We watch dump truck after dump truck come to gather dead birds. We can see workers gas the suffering hens.” – David Phinney, Animal Care Coordinator
Each person quoted below is an Animal Place employee or volunteer. On February 23 and 24, 2012, Animal Place coordinated the rescue of 4,460 starving hens from a Turlock egg farm. The birds had not seen food in more than two weeks. It is impossible to fully convey the enormity of this rescue. The people who were there give you a glimpse into the heartache and triumph of this rescue operation. Staff from both the Grass Valley and Vacaville facilities participated.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
4:00 pm – “Doing a last check of an event posting when I see the headline, ’50,000 hens starved in Turlock’.” – Marji Beach, Education Manager
4:05-5:30 pm – “Calls are put into the Stanislaus County Animal Control department and Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary, located an hour from the egg farm. We send two staff from Vacaville down immediately.” – Kim Sturla, Executive Director
7:00 pm – “I call the director at animal services. She is told by state veterinarians we can’t take any birds. I won’t take no for an answer. There are thousands still alive.”– Kim Sturla
8:00 pm – “We arrive at the farm, only to be told to get off the property. We watch dump truck after dump truck come to gather dead birds. We can see workers gas the suffering hens.” – David Phinney, Animal Care Coordinator
Thursday, February 23, 2012-
7:00 am – “We know there is little chance of taking birds, but the small amount of hope is enough. I load up our second stock trailer while animal caregivers Cally and Jacie, along with volunteer Perry, put together dog crates.”– Jamie London, Animal Care Manager
7:30 am – “Up early at the egg farm. It’s heartbreaking watching while hens are gassed. I hold onto the belief that we’ll be able to save some. This is going to be a long day.” – David Phinney
8:00 am – “As I am heading down to Turlock, I am in constant communication with the director at animal services. While the shelter has custody of the hens, they are worried the owner of the birds might try to reclaim the live hens.” – Kim Sturla
11:00 am – “We arrive. Two large sheds loom ahead. Workers cart mobile gas chambers to the back, and dead birds are dumped into trucks. We meet Harvest Home and our Vacaville staff.” – Jamie London,
11:30 am – “I’m calling my media contacts, letting them know what’s happening. We ask our Facebook supporters to call the shelter. Results are instantaneous. Hundreds phone the shelter, demanding custody of the hens be granted to us.” – Kim Sturla
1:00 pm – “It’s a horribly windy day, and the stench of death blows in our faces. It is unbelievably depressing. I can hear the live birds pecking uselessly at empty troughs. They deserve to be saved. ” – Marji Beach
3:25 pm - “The director of animal control meets me at the egg farm. Our offer to rescue the hens has been accepted. They will release birds to us. I let the staff know, while I field questions from the news crews camped out beside us.” Kim Sturla
3:30 pm – “Victory! We can start taking in birds. We have custody! They won’t let us inside the farm, but workers will hand crates down to us full of birds. I can’t believe it; we’re finally going to save some birds!” – Jacie Volek, Animal Caregiver
4:00 pm – “There are more than two dozen live hens stuck in the manure pit below the battery cages where the hens were kept. I pull fifteen out before officials deny me further access. There are no words for how it feels to leave the rest behind.” – Greg Litus, Animal Place Horticulturist
It takes 2 hours to transport the hens to Animal Place’s Rescue Ranch facility in Vacaville and more than an hour to safely unload each hen into her awaiting barn.
8:30 pm – “The first hens we pull out are so fragile. They weigh less than a pound. They should weigh three. One of the hens seems near death. I mix together a mash of special feed. She won’t eat it. I feel so helpless. I guide her head into the mash and it takes her seconds to figure it out. This is the first moment of the day I smile. The tears can come later.” – Jamie London
12:30 am – “One final check and it’s off to bed. These hens have never known freedom, so we have to make sure they don’t clump up at night and smother each other. It’s been a long day. I know tomorrow will be longer.” – Jacie Volek
7:30 am – “Up early at the egg farm. It’s heartbreaking watching while hens are gassed. I hold onto the belief that we’ll be able to save some. This is going to be a long day.” – David Phinney
8:00 am – “As I am heading down to Turlock, I am in constant communication with the director at animal services. While the shelter has custody of the hens, they are worried the owner of the birds might try to reclaim the live hens.” – Kim Sturla
11:00 am – “We arrive. Two large sheds loom ahead. Workers cart mobile gas chambers to the back, and dead birds are dumped into trucks. We meet Harvest Home and our Vacaville staff.” – Jamie London,
11:30 am – “I’m calling my media contacts, letting them know what’s happening. We ask our Facebook supporters to call the shelter. Results are instantaneous. Hundreds phone the shelter, demanding custody of the hens be granted to us.” – Kim Sturla
1:00 pm – “It’s a horribly windy day, and the stench of death blows in our faces. It is unbelievably depressing. I can hear the live birds pecking uselessly at empty troughs. They deserve to be saved. ” – Marji Beach
3:25 pm - “The director of animal control meets me at the egg farm. Our offer to rescue the hens has been accepted. They will release birds to us. I let the staff know, while I field questions from the news crews camped out beside us.” Kim Sturla
3:30 pm – “Victory! We can start taking in birds. We have custody! They won’t let us inside the farm, but workers will hand crates down to us full of birds. I can’t believe it; we’re finally going to save some birds!” – Jacie Volek, Animal Caregiver
4:00 pm – “There are more than two dozen live hens stuck in the manure pit below the battery cages where the hens were kept. I pull fifteen out before officials deny me further access. There are no words for how it feels to leave the rest behind.” – Greg Litus, Animal Place Horticulturist
It takes 2 hours to transport the hens to Animal Place’s Rescue Ranch facility in Vacaville and more than an hour to safely unload each hen into her awaiting barn.
8:30 pm – “The first hens we pull out are so fragile. They weigh less than a pound. They should weigh three. One of the hens seems near death. I mix together a mash of special feed. She won’t eat it. I feel so helpless. I guide her head into the mash and it takes her seconds to figure it out. This is the first moment of the day I smile. The tears can come later.” – Jamie London
12:30 am – “One final check and it’s off to bed. These hens have never known freedom, so we have to make sure they don’t clump up at night and smother each other. It’s been a long day. I know tomorrow will be longer.” – Jacie Volek
Friday, February 24, 2012
5:00 am – “I check the hens before we head back to the egg farm. A sick hen is dying. I hold her close as she takes her last breath. This is all so unfair. I cannot dwell on it too long, Jamie’s radioing me that we are leaving. There are more hens to save.” – Marji Beach
8:00 am – “Wow, several volunteers are already onsite, ready to help. Other volunteers start arriving. Now we just have to wait for the workers to load up crates.” - Cally Jones, Animal Caregiver, Grass Valley
9:30 am – “The birds are coming faster than yesterday. We can barely keep up. More volunteers are showing up. I don’t know how we would do this without them.” – Jamie London
1:00 pm – “El Dorado County Animal Services arrives with a stock trailer. They take 200 hens to Grass Valley. The Sacramento SPCA is here to provide triage care. A veterinarian is humanely euthanizing hens too far gone. It’s a better death than gassing or starvation.” – David Phinney
2:00 pm – “I check on the hens waiting to be loaded up. There is one girl who has tipped on her side. I pick her up and she is weak. I try to give her food and water, but she won’t eat or drink. Jamie makes a food and water blend and I place a few drops into her mouth. Finally, she puts her beak into the cup and starts drinking on her own. She has such a strong will to live.” – Dana Portnoy, Animal Place volunteer
4:30 pm – “Officials tell us there are only 200 left for us to take. It is agonizing. I don’t want any more to die. We are short on trailers at this point. Waiting is the hardest. We keep filling the loaded-up crates with food but it is not enough to make them full. Many are too weak and scared to eat”. – Roni Seabury, Animal Place volunteer
It takes staff and volunteers another two hours to load all the crated hens into waiting stock trailers. Animal Place staff leave at 7:00 pm. At 7:30 pm, they receive a call from Harvest Home – still at the farm – that their truck, with a stock trailer full of 300 hens, has broken down. Animal Place staff turn their truck and trailer around to pick up the 300 hens. It will be another 1.5 hours before the staff and hens get back on the road.
11:00 pm – “I can’t think straight. The sight that greets us in Vacaville is incredible. It’s an hour from midnight and there are more than eight volunteers unloading crates, setting up temporary shelter, and caring for the sickest hens. We’re all a little on edge, but we get through the next couple hours with as much grace as possible. The hens need us.” – Jamie London
1:00 am – “We’re all exhausted. In the past 48 hours, none of us has slept more than four hours. Thousands of lives depend on us. We depend on them too. The next few weeks will be tough. We’ll cry and experience bouts of anger. And we’ll watch hens who have known nothing, literally nothing, learn to walk, and feel the sun for the first time. That’s our reward and we cling to it desperately.” – Marji Beach,
2:00 am – “In the midst of all this chaos I find myself so awed and inspired. The will and strength of the hens and the dedication and compassion of volunteers and staff is unlike anything I’ve experienced and I’m so grateful to have been in the presence of these amazing individuals, human and non.” – David Phinney
8:00 am – “Wow, several volunteers are already onsite, ready to help. Other volunteers start arriving. Now we just have to wait for the workers to load up crates.” - Cally Jones, Animal Caregiver, Grass Valley
9:30 am – “The birds are coming faster than yesterday. We can barely keep up. More volunteers are showing up. I don’t know how we would do this without them.” – Jamie London
1:00 pm – “El Dorado County Animal Services arrives with a stock trailer. They take 200 hens to Grass Valley. The Sacramento SPCA is here to provide triage care. A veterinarian is humanely euthanizing hens too far gone. It’s a better death than gassing or starvation.” – David Phinney
2:00 pm – “I check on the hens waiting to be loaded up. There is one girl who has tipped on her side. I pick her up and she is weak. I try to give her food and water, but she won’t eat or drink. Jamie makes a food and water blend and I place a few drops into her mouth. Finally, she puts her beak into the cup and starts drinking on her own. She has such a strong will to live.” – Dana Portnoy, Animal Place volunteer
4:30 pm – “Officials tell us there are only 200 left for us to take. It is agonizing. I don’t want any more to die. We are short on trailers at this point. Waiting is the hardest. We keep filling the loaded-up crates with food but it is not enough to make them full. Many are too weak and scared to eat”. – Roni Seabury, Animal Place volunteer
It takes staff and volunteers another two hours to load all the crated hens into waiting stock trailers. Animal Place staff leave at 7:00 pm. At 7:30 pm, they receive a call from Harvest Home – still at the farm – that their truck, with a stock trailer full of 300 hens, has broken down. Animal Place staff turn their truck and trailer around to pick up the 300 hens. It will be another 1.5 hours before the staff and hens get back on the road.
11:00 pm – “I can’t think straight. The sight that greets us in Vacaville is incredible. It’s an hour from midnight and there are more than eight volunteers unloading crates, setting up temporary shelter, and caring for the sickest hens. We’re all a little on edge, but we get through the next couple hours with as much grace as possible. The hens need us.” – Jamie London
1:00 am – “We’re all exhausted. In the past 48 hours, none of us has slept more than four hours. Thousands of lives depend on us. We depend on them too. The next few weeks will be tough. We’ll cry and experience bouts of anger. And we’ll watch hens who have known nothing, literally nothing, learn to walk, and feel the sun for the first time. That’s our reward and we cling to it desperately.” – Marji Beach,
2:00 am – “In the midst of all this chaos I find myself so awed and inspired. The will and strength of the hens and the dedication and compassion of volunteers and staff is unlike anything I’ve experienced and I’m so grateful to have been in the presence of these amazing individuals, human and non.” – David Phinney
