(May 1, 2014) – Jewish Vegetarians of North America applauds the decision of Urban Adamah to cancel a chicken-slaughter workshop that had been scheduled for Sunday in Berkeley, CA.
Urban Adamah announced the cancellation on Thursday afternoon, shortly after JVNA and United Poultry Concerns announced they were organizing a joint protest at the workshop.
The decision to call a protest was made as a last resort to save 15 hens who were to be killed at Sunday’s do-it-yourself kosher-slaughter workshop. A previous offer to transport the hens to farm-animal sanctuaries was rebuffed by Urban Adamah, an organization which promotes urban agriculture in the Jewish community.
In its announcement, Urban Adamah referred to the planned protest as a motivating factor in the cancellation, fearing that workshop participants would be disturbed.
JVNA is hopeful Urban Adamah will now reconsider the offer to send the hens to farm-animal sanctuaries, where the birds could live out their natural lifespans in harmony.
“We recognize Urban Adamah describes itself as a compassionate organization,” said Jeffrey Cohan, JVNA’s Executive Director. “We hope all involved will ultimately recognize that killing young hens does not meet any definition of compassion.”