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State urged to charge egg farm owner
By CHASE SQUIRES, Times Staff Writer "If these were horses, you can bet there would be something done," a group leader says, referring to the deaths of 200,000 chickens. Two animal rights organizations, one claiming more than 7-million members, are lobbying the state to file charges against the owner of a Trilby egg farm where more than 20,000 chickens starved and 180,000 were euthanized in March. An attorney for New York-based Farm Sanctuary, a nonprofit animal rights group, submitted a 58-page brief this month to State Attorney Bernie McCabe on why Cypress Foods Inc. should be held criminally responsible for the chicken deaths. Included with the brief are graphic photographs purporting to show the conditions at the Trilby farm, with live chickens packed into tiny cages atop birds that had already starved to death. "To our knowledge, this (is) the largest case of animal cruelty in the history of the United States, perhaps even the world," Tampa attorney Paul Rebein wrote in the brief he submitted to McCabe. In addition to the 200,000 chickens that starved or were euthanized in Trilby, 800,000 met the same fate at other Cypress Foods farms in Georgia as the company went broke, Rebein said Tuesday. "If prosecuted, this will be a landmark case," Rebein wrote. "If not, it will be an infamous injustice." By Wednesday, no charges had been filed. Pasco County sheriff's spokesman Jon Powers said the investigation is continuing but should be completed soon. A State Attorney's Office representative could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Attorney Herbert Donica, who represents the company in bankruptcy court, said Wednesday that criminal prosecution is unwarranted. The owner of the farm, James R. Biggers, did everything he could to raise money for chicken food and fell short. He said Biggers invested $600,000 of his own, his life savings, in propping up the company in hopes that a buyer would save the farms and the birds. Donica said a potential buyer strung Biggers along for weeks and then backed out. "It's a terrible result. It was not intended," Donica said. Rebein contends that farm directors knew for months they were running out of money as the egg market crashed last year. Instead of accepting offers by lenders to give the chickens away, Cypress Foods filed for bankruptcy to maintain control, Rebein said. "They knew what was going to happen and they should have said something," Rebein said Tuesday. "They should have done something." Farm Sanctuary volunteers went to the Trilby farm in March when they learned the chickens were to be destroyed. They rescued about 150 dying birds. Those that survived were sent to a sanctuary farm run by the organization. There, the birds will live out their lives. Farm Sanctuary president Gene Bauston said his group has more than 100,000 members. He said the Cypress Foods situation must be dealt with by the law. "It seems like they're trying to ignore it and hope it goes away," Bauston said. "If these were horses, you can bet there would be something done." The Humane Society of the United States, claiming more than 7-million members, also stepped in. Ann Chynoweth, the Humane Society's legal counsel to investigative services, urged McCabe to file charges. Those who took part in the rescue at the Trilby farm said they crawled in the dark through horrible conditions -- a river of manure and a crumbling barn stacked with cages of dead and dying birds. "When you were walking, you could hear the cracks of the bones under your feet," said volunteer Chad Brown, who works as a land title inspector. "We had to do it, knowing the conditions those birds were in," said Rebecca Fry, who works in communications. In his brief to McCabe, Rebein included transcripts of bankruptcy court hearings, a warning letter from Georgia indicating criminal laws might be violated and his own legal analysis of potential company defenses, including the financial situation of Cypress Foods. "A person who owns animals -- farm animals or domestic pets -- has an obligation to care for the animals," Rebein wrote. "It is no excuse that they ran out of funds. "Now Cypress Foods must face the consequences of its choices. Just as it is no excuse for a man to stop feeding his dog because he loses his job, it is likewise no excuse for Cypress Foods to stop feeding its birds." -- Chase Squires covers courts in east Pasco and Dade City news. He can be reached at (352) 521-5757, ext. 27, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6108, then 27. His e-mail address is squires@sptimes.com.
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From today's Pasco Times Letters |
