Activists take 180 hens from central Florida egg farm

DADE CITY, FLORIDA - Animal activists took 180 starving hens from a financially strapped central Florida egg farm, saying they found homes for the birds. <br> <br> Florida agriculture officials say 30,000 birds at Cypress Foods Inc.&#39;s Pasco County farm north of Tampa starved after their feed was cut off for up to 10 days. The other 170,000 egg-laying hens are in such poor condition officials say they will be euthanized. <br> <br> The company filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year, leaving about 1.4 million egg-laying hens in southeast Georgia and central Florida without feed, according to agriculture officials. <br> <br> About 200,000 were on the Florida farm and 1.2 million of the hens were on nine farms in southeast Georgia near Blackshear. <br> <br> Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin estimated that two-thirds of those birds almost 800,000 may be unsalvageable because they were so emaciated and diseased. <br> <br> Florida state veterinarian, Dr. Leroy Coffman, said the activists entered the Florida property Friday and took the hens without permission. <br> <br> ``We&#39;ve signed a contract to euthanize, and no one wants to deal with the liability of people taking these birds, though I know of no diseases,&#39;&#39; Coffman said. ``This is best for the chickens.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Tampa activist Rebecca Fry, who has most of the rescued chickens at her home, disagreed. <br> <br> ``We drove onto the property and told two men working there we had homes for the chickens, and they said &#39;OK,&#39;&#39;&#39; Fry said. <br> <br> Later, she said, sheriff&#39;s deputies stopped another second truck and made the activists put back 40 chickens. <br> <br> Sheriff&#39;s spokesman Jon Powers said two people were given trespassing warnings. <br> <br> Fry and representatives of Florida Voices for Animals said they had offers of permanent and temporary homes from 500 individuals and sanctuaries as far away as Seattle.