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Mark Hawthorne and rescued turkeys. Photo by Varina Heilman |
“Mass depopulation of poultry” is the euphemism the USDA
is using to refer to the expected slaughter of millions of chickens and
turkeys
in this country to hinder the advance of the deadly H5N1 virus. Health
agencies around the globe, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and the World Health Organization, believe it’s only a matter of
time before the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, or “bird flu,” makes
mad cow disease seem like a case of the sniffles. Scientists have predicted
worst-case scenarios in which the virus kills more than a billion people.
Cases of the disease spreading from human to human have already been
confirmed outside the country, and since the current control method
of many highly pathogenic avian diseases is euthanasia, U.S. officials
are
currently preparing to cull millions of birds when the flu hits here.
Methods for the mass killing of caged hens and floor-raised birds currently under
consideration include exposing them to carbon dioxide (CO2) gas within a secure
area, such as under a tarp or in a polyethylene tent, and covering the birds
with C02-enriched firefighting foam. Also under review is a portable CO2 unit,
called a MAK (modified-atmosphere killing) cart. All of these methods cause severe
anxiety prior to a painful suffocation, but authorities may ignore such considerations
when having to choose the most expedient, cost-effective and biosecure process.
Egg-laying hens will be pulled from battery cages prior to being killed (further
adding to their trauma), since the USDA considers it too difficult to remove
birds once rigor mortis is established. Other countries have reportedly killed
flocks using extremely cruel methods, including burning or burying the animals
alive.
Setting aside for a moment the obvious ethical issue here—namely, extinguishing
the lives of millions of already exploited animals to try to solve a problem
directly linked to the intensive farming practices found in agribusiness—animal
advocates are urging government officials to adopt the least inhumane methods
for killing diseased or at-risk birds.
In May 2006, animal protection groups gathered at the Stanislaus County Agricultural
Center in California to watch a video showing authorities using both CO2 and
foam to contain an outbreak of avian influenza in 2004 on the Delmarva Peninsula
(comprised of southern Delaware, eastern Maryland and part of Virginia), considered
the birthplace of the U.S. poultry industry. A second meeting was held in the
USDA building in Riverdale, Maryland in June.
Holly Cheever, DVM, of AVAR, has little hope that birds killed en masse will
be treated humanely. “Sadly,” she says, “though the USDA is
trying to find the most humane approach, due to the numbers of animals involved,
plus the fact that they have to work very fast and limit human contagion, it’s
not going to be ‘euthanasia.’”
Dr. Cheever’s report to the USDA on the depopulation demonstration she
witnessed in Maryland states that the firefighting foam and CO2 methods cause
birds unnecessary suffering. She writes: “For the firefighting foam method,
AVAR’s concern is that death by suffocation is hardly benign or humane.
By virtue of their being hidden from view and possibly unable to vocalize as
they are covered with the foam, determining their degree of suffering becomes
problematic. Also, although the birds do not seem to struggle as the wall of
foam approaches them, their immobility should not be interpreted as a lack of
stress or concern on the part of the birds. Finally, a board certified veterinary
toxicologist states it is likely the chemical ingredients of the foam will cause
irritation of the birds’ eyes, mucous membranes, and skin.”
As for CO2 gassing, Dr. Cheever reports “The use of the MAK cart will
stress the birds due to the extra handling by strangely-garbed humans and will
cause
aversive reactions to the pain of inhaling CO2. The whole house or tent gassing
protocols all run the risk of having birds die by overheating and suffocation
and if liquid CO2 is used, the possibility of birds freezing to death before
loss of consciousness is high.”
Karen Davis of UPC was also disheartened by what she saw. Her report to the
USDA notes that UPC is neither ethically nor scientifically in a position to “recommend” methods
of mass-exterminating birds. “We will therefore simply note some of the
many welfare abuses and concerns identified by veterinarians and others, and
reaffirm that if mass exterminations are to be conducted, they should be done
in such a way as to reduce to an absolute minimum the unavoidable suffering of
the birds, based on the most advanced welfare criteria, regardless of competing
goals of cost savings and expediency.” She lists the many reactions birds
have to CO2, including gasping, shaking their heads, and stretching their necks
to breathe. As for firefighting foam, Davis notes it is impossible to accurately
determine the level of pain and distress the birds endure as they slowly suffocate
in the foam.
The Lesser Evil
The least inhumane method for what the USDA is planning seems to be using inert
gasses such as argon or nitrogen. Though not as readily available as CO2, inert
gases are completely undetectable to birds. Dr. Ian Duncan, one of the world’s
leading experts in poultry welfare, calls inert gas “the most stress-free,
humane method of killing poultry ever developed.” AVAR and PETA regard
controlled-atmosphere killing using a mixture of CO2 and nitrogen or argon as
the lesser of the evils in the government’s arsenal and have made their
recommendations known to the USDA.
“ In our judgment, the availability of inert gas is not a legitimate obstacle
to their use,” says Noam Mohr, PETA’s farmed animal researcher. “Inert
gases like nitrogen are readily separated from the air. Nitrogen costs more than
carbon dioxide, but the cost is not prohibitive, and considering the millions
of animals likely impacted by the choice of gas, the cost should not keep us
from doing the right thing.” Mohr notes that while nitrogen is less readily
available than carbon dioxide, “the purpose of USDA planning is to ensure
that preparations are made before an emergency strikes.”
“ When evaluating how best to kill large numbers of individuals I always
factor in not just how long it takes to actually kill them, but what stress do
they experience beforehand,” says Animal Place’s Kim Sturla, who
watched the depopulation video in California. “Clearly, it is best that
the killing be performed at the farm so the animals do not have to be transported.
Secondly, the less amount of human handling the better. But sealing up broiler
facilities before the CO2 is administered takes hours, during which time the
birds are frightened and slowly suffocate as their huge shed is gradually sealed
off from all fresh air. The rise in temperature would be dramatic and is impacted
by what time of year the ‘depopulation’ occurs.”
Karen Davis, meanwhile, is reluctant to endorse any method of killing chickens
and turkeys, though she agrees argon gas may offer the birds the least amount
of suffering. “From what I know from reading industry and scientific journals,
attending seminars and such,” she says, “I ‘support’ the
use of inert gases over other slaughter and mass-extermination methods.”
The concerns of animal advocates, however, seem to be worth little. USDA spokesperson
Karen Eggert says the agency can use any of the methods recommended by the
American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). Trouble is, the AVMA doesn’t in
fact have any recommendations for large-scale depopulation. “USDA has their
own procedures in place for that,” explains the AVMA’s Michael San
Filippo. “AVMA does not have recommendations yet, though it’s being
talked about.”
In November, the government announced it has approved the use of firefighting
foam. “Foam can be used to suffocate floor-reared flocks—chickens
and turkeys raised primarily for meat—to contain deadly bird flu,” Eggert
told the Associated Press.
Ignoring the Smoking Gun
Okay, back to the ethical issue: wiping out millions of animals to control
a disease that the worldwide poultry industry created to begin with. The government
and agribusiness obviously understand that intensive farming practices are
directly
connected to the spread of avian influenza, since outbreaks are common in animal
factories worldwide. These enormous industrial facilities, with their emphasis
on profit over anything resembling welfare for animals, are perfect incubators
for the H5N1 virus. This is clearly spelled out in a 2005 report on avian influenza
by the World Health Organization: “Highly pathogenic viruses have no
natural reservoir. Instead, they emerge by mutation when a virus, carried in
its mild
form by a wild bird, is introduced to poultry. Once in poultry, the previously
stable virus begins to evolve rapidly, and can mutate, over an unpredictable
period of time, into a highly lethal version of the same initially mild strain.”
Though a more recent report issued by GRAIN, a Spain-based NGO, says wild birds
have been unfairly blamed for the spread of bird flu, the organization agrees
factory farms are the smoking gun. “The evidence we see over and over again,
from the Netherlands in 2003 to Japan in 2004 to Egypt in 2006, is that lethal
bird flu breaks out in large-scale industrial chicken farms and then spreads,” says
Devlin Kuyek, a researcher with GRAIN.
So why are governments and international agencies, like the UN Food and Agriculture
Organization, not investigating how factory farms and their byproducts, such
as animal feed and manure, are responsible for spreading the avian flu virus?
Instead, they are using the crisis as an opportunity to further industrialize
the poultry market by eliminating small producers and introducing genetically
modified chickens who will be resistant to the virus.
The animal groups concerned with this issue stress the need for a proactive
approach that goes beyond merely seeking a “humane slaughter” for infected
flocks. AVAR, PETA, and UPC have all encouraged the USDA to reduce crowding and
improve unhygienic conditions for birds, though they aren’t betting it
will happen. Karen Davis notes it is doubtful that government-industry will take
the initiative to remedy the living conditions that predispose poultry to a broad
range of virulent diseases. She writes in her report: “[The] government
has likewise indicated that it will not shut down live poultry markets, although
this would appear to be a prudent step consistent with the recurrent poultry
disease epidemics in which live bird markets are implicated, and with the dire
warnings of imminent human pandemics of avian influenza issued by governments
around the world.”
“ Poultry producers are unlikely to do much as long as the public remains
ignorant about chicken factories, where birds live in filth so thick that it
burns their skin and eyes,” says Noam Mohr. “As long as the USDA
remains accountable only to industry interests, producers will continue to
profit off of putting us all at risk.”
What you can do:
1. Don’t support the poultry industry: Go vegan.
2. Contact the USDA: Secretary Mike Johanns, USDA, 1400 Independence Ave, SW,
Room 200-A, WA, DC 20250. Phone: (202) 720-3631, Fax: (202) 720-2166, Email:
agsec@usda.gov. Ask them to
stop supporting farming practices that promote avian influenza and encourage
them to use only inert gases for euthanasia of chickens and turkeys.
Mark Hawthorne is an animal advocate and a contributing writer for Satya.
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