Today, as part of our 25th anniversary celebrations, we recognize the contributions of one very special person and one very special organization: Karen Davis and United Poultry Concerns.

Where did we go when we rescued the first bird and didn't know what to feed her? To the United Poultry Concerns website. Who did we call for advice when Viktor accidentally injured Chickweed? UPC founder and president, Karen Davis!

Miriam and pattrice think of Karen as "the grandmother of the sanctuary" and here's why:

When pattrice first called UPC for advice and Karen answered, she was initially icy. Now we know why: Most people who call sanctuaries are hoping to surrender roosters. When Karen realized that pattrice and Miriam had become devoted to the birds, wanted to do right by them, and intended to rescue more chickens, her whole attitude changed. She became warm and chatty, generously sharing information and resources but also warning that those big white birds exploited by the sanctuary "will break your heart."

Karen soon became our young sanctuary's biggest booster, offering encouragement and support along with advice. Since her sanctuary was only 90 minutes away from ours, we visited back and forth regularly. We made sure that she visited us every six months or so, just to make sure that she still approved of how we were managing things. During the years we were in Maryland, Karen and pattrice often spoke on the telephone several times each week. Even after we relocated to Vermont, Karen continued to send moral support from afar, tossing off notes of encouragement regularly.

Oh, we have so many stories we could tell about Karen! Some of them are included in pattrice's afterword to her book of collected essays, For the Birds. You can read those remembrances online here.

Karen was so full of vigor and emotion that it's difficult to believe she's no longer alive. Certainly, her spirit lives on. Karen's profound impact on the animal rights movement was recognized in her New York Times obituary. Closer to home, we acknowledge that pattrice and Miriam might have contented themselves with rescuing chickens informally were it not for Karen's example and influence. Karen then went out of her way to promote our work, using her influence within the movement to promote pattrice as a speaker and writer. Karen also provided material support, once encouraging one of her own donors to buy us a new barn!

As word of Karen's demise spread on social media, we noticed that her influence had been even more broad than we had realized. Activists from every sector of the movement, from the most radical and grassroots to the most mainstream, wrote of her personal influence on their thinking and activism.

Words can't quite capture a person like Karen, but here are a few: Generous. Genuine. Heartfelt. Fervent. Passionate. Bold. Dedicated, determined, and devoted. Inspired and inspiring.

"Stick up for chickens!" That was the motto on Karen's t-shirts and buttons and also words she included in her last handwritten card to Miriam and pattrice. In her memory, we have redoubled our own dedication to doing just that, and we encourage all of our supporters to do just that.

The links between UPC and our fledgling sanctuary typified the ethos of mutual aid that infuses the community of sanctuaries. Several UPC volunteers supported our sanctuary in one way or another, and some do to this day. Thank you, Liqin, Franklin, Jessica, Gary, Kay, Deb, and anyone we have neglected to mention due to the effects of the passage of time on our aging memories! In turn, we did what we could do to support UPC. Miriam and pattrice attended UPC demonstrations, pattrice wrote articles and book reviews for the Poultry Press, and pattrice sometimes tabled or spoke at events in Karen's stead.

The United Poultry Concerns board and volunteers have taken on the daunting task of keeping the UPC sanctuary, advocacy, and educational programs going. They deserve all of our support. Visit their website to read more of Karen's essays, to check out back issues of Poultry Press, and to download the useful educational materials they make available to anyone who wants to "stick up for chickens!"

Karen Davis contributed her germinal essay, Thinking Like a Chicken: Farm Animals and the Feminine Connection, to the groundbreaking 1995 collection entitled Animals and Women: Farm Animals and the Feminine Connection. So, it's fitting that the next meeting of the VINE Book Club will be focused on gender and sanctuaries.

Everyone is welcome at this event, at which we will discuss the chapters in the Routledge Companion to Gender and Animals that have to do with sanctuaries. Authors of one or more of those chapters will be in attendance to answer questions and share insights. This will also be an extension of multi-year series of events for sanctuaries, so representatives of several sanctuaries also will be in attendance.

Here's how to participate:

1. Download your free PDF of the selected chapters
2. Register for the event
3. Read as much as you can
4. Come to the event on February 23 to join the conversation or just listen in!

If you would like a PDF of the entire book, you can find it here.

VINE Sanctuary is an LGBTQ-led refuge for farmed animals where hundreds of survivors of abuse and exploitation find peace and freedom. Donors make the sanctuary possible.

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