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Dear John,
As Hurricane Dorian creeps upwards along the east coast, our thoughts are with those in the storm’s path and those who have already been affected.
One of the states expected to experience major storm surge flooding is North Carolina, home to an estimated 9 million pigs, 830.8 million chickens raised for meat, and 32.5 million turkeys—most confined in factory farms†.
Animals are far too often the forgotten victims of natural disasters.
Last fall, Hurricane Florence lead to the deaths of 3.4 million chickens and 5500 pigs in North Carolina who were left behind with no hope of evacuation†.
Even without the addition of fierce winds and rain from Dorian, pig and chicken Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) in North Carolina are ethical, environmental, and social disasters. As with previous storms, Dorian has great potential to cause an overflow of the region’s pig-manure lagoons, contaminating groundwater, air, rivers, and the ocean with toxic pollutants.
As a result of Hurricane Florence, a reported 22 manure lagoons were inundated with floodwaters, leaving trails of floating excrement. There are at least 3300 such lagoons in North Carolina, putting citizens at risk†.
The approach of Hurricane Dorian is a harsh reminder of the negligence of lawmakers when it comes to considering the impact that our food system has on animals, people, and the environment.
Urge Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to require farmers to implement disaster-management strategies that protect animals, and to enforce strict waste-management practices to protect citizens and the environment.
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