Please write your Congreemen (reps and Senators)

[9nines]

/30/06--Live Baby Birds Fly Unfriendly Skies

KINSHIP CIRCLE ACTION CAMPAIGN

http://www.KinshipCircle.org

 

SOURCE OF INFORMATION:

Oppose legislation forcing the shipment of baby birds as mail (S. 2395)

http://www.farmsanctuary.org/campaign/fed_shipping.htm

 

Stop Federal Bill That Would Require the Cruel Air Transport of Birds

http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/bird_transport/w77xdus925b3xi8?

 

To identify your federal legislators and find contact info, try:

http://www.Congress.org

http://www.senate.gov

http://www.house.gov

http://action.fund.org/directory

https://community.hsus.org/humane/leg-lookup/search.html

http://www.vote-smart.org

 

Congressional Switchboard: 202-224-3121

 

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SAMPLE LETTER

Changing some words & personalizing comments

a bit is more influential

=========================================

 

The Honorable Senators ______________________________________

The U.S. Senate, U.S. Capitol Building

Washington, D.C. 20510

 

The Honorable Representative _________________________________

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20510

 

Dear Senators __________________________________________,

 

Dear Representative _____________________________________,

 

I am shocked Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) has proposed S. 2395, a bill to

weaken the USPS's intervention on behalf of live animals shipped via mail.

S. 2395 will result in the death of thousands more birds annually flown in

cargo compartments.

 

As your constituent, I respectfully ask you to oppose Senate Bill 2395 and

its House companion bill, when introduced.

 

Commercial hatcheries and cockfighting breeders dispatch millions of baby

birds every year. It is currently legal for the U.S. Postal Service to mail

these day-old chicks inside cargo areas designated for luggage. Live baby

birds, considered perishables no different than flowers or fruit, fly

without food or water. Although precise numbers have never been calculated,

a 2005 report from the Bird Shippers of America (BSA) reveals more birds

reach their destination dead than alive. In cargo holds without heat or air

conditioning, temperature extremes range from subzero to sweltering. Chicks

become critically dehydrated at more than 95 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

One Minnesota postal worker described "animals packed in to the point where

they could barely move" and others commonly mashed to death or left on

loading docks over an entire weekend. After humane groups objected to this

cruel practice, the USPS finally initiated revised guidelines that require

the coordination of live shipments through central offices, to assure their

arrival. In addition, the USPS instituted a four-hour restriction on ground

transportation.

 

Now, S. 2395 threatens to undercut these moderate changes by compelling the

USPS to stipulate that certain airlines transport birds and send them via

connecting cities, not necessarily on direct flights. S. 2395 also requires

those airlines to mail birds in ANY temperature from 0 to 100 degrees

Fahrenheit.

 

If S. 2395 passes, it basically forces the USPS to direct air carriers to

accept live shipments under any conditions. I hope you agree this bill

defies any sense of ethical responsibility.

 

In 2005 a Missouri hatchery mailed over 100 chicks to Pennsylvania. Only 55

of the hours-old chicks lived through shipment. The rest succumbed to

suffocation, dehydration and neglect while waiting inside a cardboard box at

a mailroom for several days. Fortunately, one kind postal worker refused to

ship any surviving birds "back to sender," though legally obligated to do

so. Instead, the chicks went to Farm Sanctuary's Emergency Rescue &

Rehabilitation Center in Watkins Glen, New York.

 

Please vote against legislation that forces the shipment of live animals as

mail. Senate Bill 2395 is irresponsible lawmaking and I strongly encourage

you to reject it.

 

Thank you,