Sami Sieranoja | cc by 2.0

Update: Fine Featherheads has deleted the statement from its website indicating that the roosters are "treated ethically."

Fine Featherheads, which tacks the feathers of gassed roosters into its customers' hair faster than you can say "misinformed fashion victim," had the audacity to post on its website that the roosters are "treated ethically" at its exclusive supplier, Whiting Farms. PETA has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Fine Featherheads founder, Dakota Hills, demanding that she remove the blatant falsehood from the site.

"We are informed that you visited the conditions in which the roosters are confined and killed for their feathers," wrote PETA Foundation General Counsel Jeffrey S. Kerr. These conditions include confining roosters to solitary cages stacked one on top of the other in noisy, windowless sheds until the birds are finally gassed and skinned. Mr. Whiting admits that he and his workers abuse the birds, even hurling them across the barn.

There is nothing "ethical" about the treatment of the roosters at Whiting Farms, only a financial motivation for Hills to mislead customers. If she does not remove the false statements from her website, PETA will pursue action with appropriate state and federal regulators.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Beautiful Rusty had a home and a family—until the day that they moved and left him alone in the backyard, with no food or water in the middle of a southwestern U.S. summer. A kind neighbor spotted the abandoned rooster through the fence and called PETA for help. We alerted animal control and asked officers to rescue Rusty, but they told us that oh, no, first they would have to call his runaway owners and "give them a chance to claim him." The owners told animal control that they would return for Rusty, but he languished for days, all alone, surviving only because a caring neighbor managed to get into the yard to give him food and water—offerings that the starved bird gladly accepted.

Finally, after it was clear that Rusty's absentee owners were gone for good, animal control confiscated him and found him a spot at an animal shelter, where he now awaits a new home with a family that won't treat him like a rusty old bicycle—or eat him. In the meantime, the other animals at the shelter get a pleasant wake-up call every morning, courtesy of Rusty's joyful crooning.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

n0rthw1nd/cc by 2.0

 
Rooster feathers look best on their rightful owners, but some salons are now weaving them into customers' hair as an "accessory." To obtain the feathers (which are traditionally used as fishing lures), roosters are typically confined for 30 weeks—the majority of their short lives—in tiny, stacked cages inside deafeningly loud barns before they are killed and skinned.

The owner of Whiting Farms in Delta, Colorado—one of the largest feather farms in the U.S.—described the cruel conditions in which he keeps roosters:
 

 
Just like minks who are killed for coats and snakes who are skinned for shoes, roosters suffer when they are exploited for human vanity and profit. Please help them by telling your friends why wearing rooster feathers is cruel, not cool, and always choosing animal-free clothing and accessories.

 
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

This rooster from the property was wearing an ankle tag when he was found.

A collaborative effort involving multiple law-enforcement agencies has resulted in the takedown of what may just be the largest cockfighting ring in U.S. history!

According to information we received from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the DEA-led effort was intended to lead to the confiscation of drugs, not chickens. Officials had been working to gather information on the Gulf Cartel, a Mexican drug trafficking organization. They were following the actions of the alleged smugglers when they stumbled upon the cartel's other dirty business: a massive cockfighting ring.

These were the houses in which the roosters were forced to live.

Kill or be killed may be the chosen mantra for drug lords, but for roosters who are imprisoned and forced to fight to the death, it's not a choice. Rather, it is a cruel existence that is nearly always marked by constant injuries and a painful death.

Thanks to the powers that be, though, the suspected cockfighters were caught red-handed (white-powder–handed?). Eleven individuals were arrested near Nashville, Tennessee, for their involvement, and 30 more arrests took place in Texas, Mississippi, Nevada, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Oklahoma. And, best of all, those birds are out of the ring for good.

Written by Jennifer Cierlitsky