Grand Cypress Ranch

RR1, Box 97B, Jacksonville, Illinois  62650

(217) 243-7683, fax 245-2919

William Sadler, Ph.D.

Purina Mills

Fax:  (314) 768-4143

October 10, 1996

Dear Dr. Sadler,

I am going to appeal to you again to reconsider your decision to deem all sales of ostrich feed as qualifying for the AOA Feed check-off program.  I do not think you are aware of the type of organization you are about to support. 

 As a member of the AOA for the last 4 years, I have been deliberately and repeatedly libeled, slandered, ridiculed, ignored, and ostracized.  Roslina has chosen to take part in this by sending 2 people to my farm for a whole afternoon (what was it, a spying mission?) and then failing to return phone calls or faxes.  I am enclosing a copy of the letter I faxed to her after the visit last spring.  No doubt she is being held hostage by the real villains in the organization, but slander and libel are criminal.  I have come to the conclusion that the veterinarians and the research committee of the AOA never intended to solve fading chick syndrome!  After all, it is very lucrative when the animals are sick, and one does not want to jeopardize a breeder’s market by keeping birds alive:  especially when there was no true end market.

 In the most recent and mildest incident, I wrote a letter (copy enclosed) to 5 prominent people in the ostrich industry detailing the ostrich livestock needs of the Brazilians.  The 8-10,000 birds estimated by Dr. Gionanni may be the largest deal ever in the ostrich industry.  I did not even ask for a finder’s fee.  Not one of those individuals even had the courtesy to thank me for the lead.  Given the treatment I have received from the AOA it would have been so easy to convince her to look at another country for breeding stock.

 Between my patent applications and my work in Brazil, I should have been acknowledged for my contribution to the ostrich industry.  Had it been anybody else, no doubt they would have been invited to speak at the national convention and given numerous accolades in the press.  However, it is always open season on Donna Fezler.

 Looking back at some of the cruelties, last year I endured a kangaroo court trial in Illinois because I told the truth (people did not want to eat Big Bird) and they didn’t like it.  The Illinois Chapter of the American Ostrich Association, of which I am a member, had been consistently using their newsletter as a vehicle to defame or discredit me.  For example, the October 95 issue gave members a phone number to report mislabeling violations to the FDA, citing the use of the term South American Ostrich as a synonym for Rhea as a mislabeling violation.  The FDA had no such regulation or jurisdiction, and since I could produce published references as evidence of prior common use, didn’t see where it was an issue of any relevance. 

 I have had people visit my farm to see if I am really as horrible as they have heard from the Illinois AOA chapter board members! 

 Their only motivation appears to be my preference for the Rhea, the result of high chick mortality with my ostriches boarded on a veterinarians’s farm in Arizona for 4 years (so what if I had over $100,000 invested) and hence, no ostriches to keep in Illinois.  Apparently such actions are condoned by the officers of the AOA, since, even though the former president was informed of the circumstances in writing twice (August 95 and October 95), there was no response. 

 I could go on for pages, the AOA “hate” file is over 1 inch thick.   This latest tactic of ignoring me completely is so mean, especially since I fund all my work out of my husband’s salary.  If you are really interested, I will bring it to you in St. Louis.  The purpose of this letter is not to bore or whine but to ask that you reconsider the worthiness of the AOA to receive all funds.  Please do not condone and participate in this illegal, immoral, and cruel behavior by forwarding all funds to the AOA. 

 I cannot tell you how many rheas are using your ostrich feed:  I work alone and do not have the resources to conduct such a survey.  The rhea is without a national organization, so there is no easy means of gathering this information.

Sincerely, 

Mrs. Donna Fezler