Karen Davis (born February 4, 1944) is an American
animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their Utilitarianism, utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding s ...
advocate, and president of
United Poultry Concerns, a non-profit organization founded in 1990 to address the treatment of domestic fowl – including chickens, turkeys, and ducks – in
factory farming. Davis also maintains a sanctuary.
She is the author of several books on
veganism
Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet (nutrition), diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is kn ...
and animal rights, including ''Prisoned Chickens, Poisoned Eggs: An Inside Look at the Modern Poultry Industry'' (1997) and ''The Holocaust and the Henmaid's Tale: A Case for Comparing Atrocities'' (2005). Karen Davis also has written the foreword to Michael Lanfield's book, ''The Interconnectedness of Life'', which was released December 6, 2014.
Background
Davis was born in
Altoona, Pennsylvania
Altoona is a city in Blair County, Pennsylvania. It is the principal city of the Altoona Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The population was 43,963 at the time of the 2020 Census, making it the eighteenth most populous city in Pennsylvania. T ...
; her parents were Amos and Mary Elizabeth Davis.
Amos was the
Blair County District attorney from 1966 to 1975. Davis graduated from
Hollidaysburg Area High School in 1962. She studied for her undergraduate degree at
Westminster College in
New Wilmington, Pennsylvania
New Wilmington is a borough in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, first platted in 1824 and established as a borough on April 9, 1863. The population was 2,097 at the 2020 census. It is home to Westminster College and serves the Old O ...
. Davis obtained her PhD in English from the
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
. She also taught English at the University of Maryland while she started United Poultry Concerns. Davis married Dr. George Allan Cate (deceased). She has three brothers: Tim Davis of
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto.
The city was es ...
, Amos Davis of
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...
, and Andrew Davis of
Shippensburg, Pennsylvania
Shippensburg is a borough in Cumberland and Franklin counties in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Settled in 1730, Shippensburg lies in the Cumberland Valley, southwest of Harrisburg, and is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan ...
.
Activism
Davis regularly addresses the annual National Animal Rights conferences, and was inducted in July 2002 into the Animal Rights Hall of Fame "for outstanding contributions to animal liberation." Since 1999, she and United Poultry Concerns have hosted 19 conferences on farmed animal-vegan advocacy issues. She launched a campaign against National Public Radio's ''
This American Life
''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internatio ...
'' for its annual "Poultry Slam" show, arguing that host
Ira Glass
Ira Jeffrey Glass (; born March 3, 1959) is an American public radio personality. He is the host and producer of the radio and television series ''This American Life'' and has participated in other NPR programs, including ''Morning Edition'', ' ...
was contributing to the poor treatment and slaughter of chickens and turkeys. Eventually, Glass visited Davis's sanctuary and announced on the ''
Late Show with David Letterman'' in 2008 that he had become a vegetarian thanks to Davis.
Davis is one of several people who provided information used in the writing of the book ''
Striking at the Roots: A Practical Guide to Animal Activism'' (2008) by
Mark Hawthorne.
Davis paid for an advertisement in the ''New York Times'' in protest at the practice of killing chickens in the streets of New York during the
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day' ...
ritual of
kapparot.
Publications
;Books
*''A Home for Henny''. United Poultry Concerns, 1996 (children's book).
* ''Instead of Chicken, Instead of Turkey: A Poultryless "Poultry" Potpourri''. Book Publishing Co., 1999.
* ''More Than a Meal: The Turkey in History, Myth, Ritual, and Reality''. Lantern Books, 2001.
* ''The Holocaust and the Henmaid’s Tale: A Case for Comparing Atrocities''. Lantern Books, 2005.
* ''Prisoned Chickens, Poisoned Eggs: An Inside Look at the Modern Poultry Industry''. Book Publishing Co., Revised edition, 2009.
* For the Birds: From Exploitation to Liberation. Essays on Chickens, Turkeys, and Other Domestic Fowl, Lantern Books, 2019.
;Articles/chapters
* "Thinking like a chicken: Farm Animals and the Feminine Connection" in
Adams, Carol J. ''Animals and Women: Feminist Theoretical Explorations''. Duke University Press, 1995.
* "Open Rescue: Putting a Face on Liberation," in Nocella, Anthony and
Best, Steven. ''Terrorists or Freedom Fighters: Reflections on the Liberation of Animals''. Lantern Books, 2004.
* "From Hunting Grounds to Chicken Rights: My Story in an Eggshell," in Kemmerer, Lisa A. ''Sister Species: Women, Animals, and Social Justice''. University of Illinois Press, 2011.
* "The Social Life of Chickens" in Smith, Julie A. and Mitchell, Robert W. (eds.) ''Experiencing Animals: Encounters Between Animal and Human Minds''. Columbia University Press 2011.
* "Procrustean Solutions to Animal Identity and Welfare Problems" in Critical Theory and Animal Liberation, Rowman & Littlefield, 2011.
* "Birds Used in Food Production," in
Linzey, Andrew ''The Global Guide to Animal Protection''. University of Illinois Press, 2013.
* "Foreword: Hidden in Plain Sight" in Michael Lanfield ''The Interconnectedness of Life: We Are Interconnected''. We Are Interconnected Films/CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014.
* "Creative Maladjustment: From Civil Rights to Chicken Rights" in Michael Lanfield ''The Interconnectedness of Life: We Are Interconnected''. We Are Interconnected Films/CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014.
* "Anthropomorphic Visions of Chickens Bred for Human Consumption" in Critical Animal Studies: Why Animals Matter. Canadian Scholars Press, 2014.
* "The Disengagement of Journalistic Discourse about Nonhuman Animals: An Analysis" in Critical Animal Studies: Towards Trans-species Social Justice. Rowman & Littlefield, 2018.
* "How I Became a 'Poultry' Rights Activist Who Started an Organization Some Said Would Never Fly" in Voices For Animal Liberation. Skyhorse Publishing, 2019.
* "Employing Euphemism to Falsify the Fate of Farmed Animals" in Animal Agriculture is Immoral: An Anthology. Climate Healers, 2020.
See also
*
Women and animal advocacy
Women have played a central role in animal advocacy since the 19th century. The animal advocacy movement – embracing animal rights, animal welfare, and anti-vivisectionism – has been disproportionately initiated and led by women, ...
*
List of animal rights advocates
References
External links
Davis's bio on UPC website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Karen
1944 births
21st-century American non-fiction writers
Living people
American animal rights activists
American non-fiction writers
American veganism activists
Sentientists
Anti-vivisectionists