FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, October 31, 1997
CONTACT:
Heidi Prescott, 301-585-2591, hprescott@fund.org
POTTSVILLE, Pa. -- Dawn Ratcliffe, the 24-year-old pigeon shoot protestor in Schuylkill County Prison, has now been on a hunger strike for an entire month, one of the longest known hunger strikes in U.S. history. A motion for her early parole was denied this morning.
Dawn was taken to the emergency room at Pottsville Hospital late Wednesday night, where the doctor indicated that her condition was grave. She has been hunger striking so the leaders of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives would agree to vote on House Bill 1909, the bill to ban live pigeon shoots. Now that the Legislature has recessed for three weeks and cannot act on Dawn's request, her friends and family are asking her to break her hunger strike for her safety.
Dawn is serving a 45-day sentence for her participation in a peaceful act of civil disobedience against the Hegins Labor Day Pigeon Shoot in 1996. She says from jail, "I am frustrated by the lack of compassion in Pennsylvania. The leaders of the legislature have repeatedly turned a blind eye to one of the world's most disgusting displays of animal abuse." Dawn has been writing to all of the Pennsylvania legislators from jail, and she will continue to work to pass the bill.
Rep. Sara Steelman (D-Indiana County) has introduced House Bill 1909 to ban pigeon shoots, and the bill has 46 co-sponsors. House leaders have repeatedly stalled attempts to vote on similar legislation over the past few years. Activists will leaflet homes in the districts of House Majority Leader John Perzel (R-Philadelphia) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Thomas Gannon (R-Delaware County) this weekend, asking constituents to demand a vote on House Bill 1909.
Says Heidi Prescott, National Director of The Fund for Animals, "Dawn looks weak, thin, and tired, and we are very worried about her health. We asked her to eat, and she has agreed to drink additional fluids. Dawn has many years of activism ahead of her, and we don't want to lose her."
