Rural King Letter
On August 7, 2023, Legal Impact for Chickens sent a cease-and-desist letter to Rural King for mistreating chicks.
In the letter, LIC demanded that “America’s Farm and Home Store” stop neglecting these young birds—and start complying with the law against animal cruelty.
Rural King has over 130 stores in 13 states. The stores sell farm and home supplies—as well as live chicks.
The letter was based on photographs, videos, and a first-hand witness account indicating that, for over a year, chicks had suffered and died at a particular West Virginia Rural King store. The evidence LIC received indicated that, among other problems, the store had repeatedly used incorrect, adult-only waterers for these young chicks. As a result, many chicks apparently went without water. The problem persisted even when a customer complained.
Moreover, LIC had reason to believe that the cruelty may not have been unique to one Rural King location. Rather, based on LIC receiving complaints from multiple members of the public in multiple states, and based on past news articles, it seems the cruelty may have been part of a broader pattern across multiple stores.
Rural King sent a formal response to our cease-and-desist letter on August 15, 2023. Rural King stated that it will begin “performing ‘in person’ random audits at Rural King locations to ensure” appropriate animal care. LIC’s source on the ground has also confirmed that the particular West Virginia store in question has now finally switched to the correct waterers!
This change can be expected to save many lives—at this one Rural King store and beyond. Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible.
That said, LIC later received information indicating that other serious animal-welfare issues persist at multiple Rural King stores. LIC is looking into the situation, and encourages anyone with more information to contact us.