United Poultry Concerns - [link removed]
29 April 2020
For Immediate Release
Contact: Karen Davis 757-678-7875;
[email protected]
"Depopulation" of Poultry Does Not Mean "Humanely Killed"
United Poultry Concerns Urges Accurate Reporting on the Plight of
These Birds
Machipongo, VA, April 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - A recent CNN
article, 2 million chickens will be killed in Delaware and Maryland because
of lack of employees at processing plants, states that the depopulation of
2 million chickens in Delaware and Maryland means they are being humanely
killed.
"Depopulated" simply means that all the birds in the designated sheds are
being intentionally killed on site, or are being trucked, dead or alive, to
rendering plants, instead of being sent alive to a standard commercial
slaughtering facility.
The poultry industry uses three main methods to destroy thousands and
millions of birds at a time in response to a disease outbreak, a natural
disaster, or, in this case, because there arent enough workers to slaughter
and process the birds due to coronavirus-related worker shortages.
The three depopulation methods are ventilation shutdown, fire-fighting foam,
and carbon dioxide poisoning. In the first case, the birds die slowly of
heat stress and suffocation, by being deprived of air in the sheds with the
temperature intentionally turned up. In the second case, they suffocate to
death by being smothered under a rolling carpet of foam. In the third case,
they suffocate painfully and slowly to death of carbon dioxide poisoning,
administered to them through hoses with a force that can simultaneously burn
and freeze their lungs.
Reports suggest that in the current case, the chickens are being mass-killed
by ventilation shutdown. Delaware Public Media reported on April 16: The
recommended method for depopulating the flocks is closing off the
ventilation in the chicken house . . . which causes the birds to die from
hyperthermia. In other words, the birds slowly bake and suffocate to death.
See How to Kill Half a Million Chickens at Once.
It is possible that all three methods could be employed whatever is most
expedient to the industry in keeping with the 2015 U.S. Department of
Agriculture policy guide, which states in part:
While CO2 and water-based foam will continue to be the primary methods first
considered in a response, alternative methods will be immediately considered
if these primary methods will not achieve depopulation of infected flocks .
. . within 24 hours. Ventilation shutdown (VSD) is an adjunct method that
will be considered by State and APHIS officials for depopulation of infected
poultry based on the defined policy.
"Regardless of the method used, the suffering of the chickens is prolonged
and intense, says Karen Davis, President of United Poultry Concerns. We
look to the news media to report the birds suffering accurately through
investigative reporting and fact checks that do not depend on industry
reassurances that inhumane killing is 'humane.'"
For more information, visit United Poultry Concerns at
[link removed].
--
United Poultry Concerns is a nonprofit organization that promotes
the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl.
Don't just switch from beef to chicken. Go Vegan.
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United Poultry Concerns | PO Box 150 | Machipongo | VA | 23405
