Owner of farm where chickens starved will not face charges
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Posted 2:22PM on Thursday, September 12, 2002
DADE CITY, FLORIDA - The owner of a bankrupt central Florida egg farm where thousands of chickens starved will not face animal cruelty charges. <br>
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Prosecutors said Wednesday that they wouldn't pursue a case against James Biggers, chief executive officer of Cypress Foods, north of Tampa. <br>
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Bruce Bartlett, chief assistant state attorney, said Biggers thought he had a deal to sell the company and save the chickens. However, it fell through at the last minute. <br>
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Florida agriculture officials say 30,000 birds at Cypress Foods' Pasco County farm starved after their food was cut off for up to ten days. <br>
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Officials said 170,000 other hens were in such poor condition they were euthanized. <br>
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According to agriculture officials, 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.