The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), a national non-profit, announced Thursday that a settlement was reached in a lawsuit against Andy Cheung and Lien Diep, owners of A&L Poultry, who allegedly abandoned 50,000 hens without food or water near Turlock in 2012.
In February of 2012, the Stanislaus Animal Services Agency received a report that approximately 50,000 chickens had been left without food or water for nearly two weeks.
Several groups came to rescue the nearly 5,000 hens that were strong enough to survive the starvation suffered — the largest farmed animal rescue in California history.
Cheung and Diep were charged with felony animal cruelty in February of 2013. Both still face up to three years in prison and up to $20,000 in fines.
Plaintiffs Animal Place, Farm Sanctuary, and Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary sued A&L Poultry, with the ALDF and law firm Schiff Hardin providing pro bono counsel for the plaintiffs.
The settlement permanently prohibits Cheung, who managed the facility, from working directly with animals again; the settlement places similar restrictions on Diep.
“The egg industry is rife with routine animal suffering, but today’s settlement ensures that those responsible for the tragedy in Turlock are permanently out of the business of raising animals,” said Matthew Liebman, senior attorney for the ALDF.
