United Poultry Concerns

April 24, 2007

Karen Davis, Chicken Advocacy, Vegetarianism Discussed On David Letterman

Ira Glass appeared on Late Night with David Letterman Friday April 20th promoting the television version of his radio show This American Life. Since 1995, Ira Glass has been host of Public Radio International’s This American Life. For 16 years before that, he worked as a producer, editor, and reporter on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition.

At the midpoint of his conversation with Letterman, Glass described his encounter with Karen Davis of United Poultry Concerns and the huge letter-writing campaign UPC mobilized several years ago. He commented with amazement on the overwhelming task of advocating for chickens in a world where their death is everywhere you look, an "Armageddon" as he described it.

He described UPC’s sanctuary in the midst of a large poultry production area, where "little escaping chickens" falling off trucks are brought to UPC’s sanctuary for safety, how he was invited to visit and upon meeting the chickens discovered they are indeed little individuals with personalities – "this one’s shy, that one’s outgoing."

When he asked Letterman if he had ever met a chicken, Letterman quipped about meeting one on the end of his fork. He asked Glass if he had made dietary changes since then and Glass replied that he thought of those chickens every time he took a bite of chicken after that and that he has indeed become a vegetarian.

To view the segment on You Tube, visit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1TcL0wZ-pM