FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, October 13, 1997
CONTACT:
Heidi Prescott, 301-585-2591, hprescott@fund.org
Schuylkill County Prison, 717-628-1450
POTTSVILLE, Pa. -- A Schuylkill County hearing officer ruled today that Dawn Ratcliffe, the 24-year-old pigeon shoot protestor hunger striking in prison, will not be institutionalized. The ruling noted that there was not sufficient evidence presented at Friday's two-and-a-half-hour "mental health hearing" that Ms. Ratcliffe posed a clear and present danger to herself.
Despite the fact that they have not performed a physical examination of Ms. Ratcliffe, and despite the fact that her weight is normal, officials at Schuylkill County Prison made it clear last week that they wanted to institutionalize the animal rights activist so that they could force-feed her.
Ms. Ratcliffe was arrested for her participation in a peaceful protest against the Hegins pigeon shoot on Labor Day 1996, and is serving a 45-day sentence for disorderly conduct. The Hegins pigeon shoot is the world's most infamous live bird shooting contest. Each Labor Day, shooters from all over the country compete for money by shooting at more than 4,000 individually released birds. Most of the birds are not killed immediately, but are wounded. Children collect the wounded birds, rip off their heads, stomp on them, or throw them into barrels to suffocate.
Ms. Ratcliffe has vowed to continue her hunger strike in prison until the Republican leaders of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives put legislation to ban live pigeon shoots on the House floor for a fair vote. State Rep. Sara Steelman (D-Indiana County) introduced a bill to ban live pigeon shoots this week, and the bill already has 43 co-sponsors. The Republican leaders of the House have thwarted several past attempts to vote on similar legislation.
Ms. Ratcliffe declares from prison, "I believe that an individual should not be punished for having enough respect for life to take action to stop violence and suffering. They don't understand that everything they try to do to me only makes me stronger in my resolve."
