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Save Farm Animals from Deadly Barn Fires!

Dear John,

Since 2013, over 4 million farm animals have been tragically killed in at least 680 barn fires in the United States. AWI's analysis indicates that 98 percent of these animals were birds, mainly egg-laying hens and chickens raised for meat. Since 2017 alone, more than 2.5 million hens and 285,000 meat chickens have died in barn fires.

Trapped inside burning barns and enclosures, farm animals struggle helplessly to escape as they endure unimaginable suffering. Some die almost immediately as the fire burns through the barn; others may initially survive the fire but must be killed due to severe burns or smoke inhalation.

Such a large number of fatalities and immense suffering should sound an alarm, yet because farm animals are viewed as expendable commodities, their deaths seem to be of little concern to the animal agriculture industry that produces animals by the billions. In fact, key industry players--including the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association--have vehemently opposed past efforts to require commonsense fire prevention improvements in animal housing facilities, without proposing alternatives to address this catastrophic problem.

It is no surprise that we continue to see an extraordinarily high number of losses, given that extreme confinement is a common practice in modern animal agriculture. Because chickens are afforded so little space, they are crammed by the tens or even hundreds of thousands into a single building with no ability to escape during an emergency. When a fire ignites, a large loss of life is usually inevitable.

With virtually no legal protections within municipal codes or state laws, the onus is on the industry to protect animals from barn fires. If poultry companies are going to cram birds by the thousands into massive sheds with no chance of escape, the least they can do is try to spare these animals an excruciating death.

TAKE ACTION! ([link removed])

What You Can Do
Please send a letter ([link removed]) to John Starkey, president of the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, urging the organization to work with its members and industry partners to take immediate action to prevent future barn fires before even more animals are needlessly killed.

Be sure to share our "Dear Humanitarian" eAlert with family, friends, and co-workers, and encourage them to contact Mr. Starkey as well. As always, thank you very much for your help!

Sincerely,

Cathy Liss
President

P.S. Follow us on Facebook ([link removed]), Twitter ([link removed]), and Instagram ([link removed]) for other important animal protection actions and news.

Photo by Shane Murphy

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Animal Welfare Institute
900 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20003
(202) 337-2332 | www.awionline.org ([link removed])

The Animal Welfare Institute is a not-for-profit organization, founded in 1951 and dedicated to reducing animal suffering caused by people. We seek better treatment of animals everywhere: in the laboratory, on the farm, in commerce, at home, and in the wild.

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