USDA: Baking Birds Alive is NOT Humane!
A bird flu outbreak has affected flocks of poultry in Iowa and other states. The USDA is recommending a cruel solution to the problem: shutting off ventilation to heat up farm houses, baking the birds to their death.
Chickens already endure suffering in the meat trade. They are often confined to cages too small to spread their wings. Yet even the poultry giant Pilgrim's Pride wouldn't support baking chickens alive. When a vandal shut down their ventilation system earlier this year, they offered a $50,000 reward and issued the statement, "these heinous acts resulted in a cruel death for several thousand chickens."
The USDA itself admits that shutting down ventilation presents concerns that "prolonged suffering may occur." This cruel method of euthanasia lets birds suffer intensely and slowly, and mass death can take over half an hour to occur. Some birds survive over three hours, enduring the pain of organ failure and heightened blood pressure.
The USDA needs to find a humane solution to deal with bird flu. Please sign the petition to urge the USDA to abandon all plans to bake birds alive!
We, the undersigned, are concerned with your proposal to shut off ventilation in factory farms to kill poultry flocks affected by bird flu.
Chickens already endure suffering in the meat trade. They are often confined to cages too small to spread their wings. Yet even the poultry giant Pilgrim's Pride wouldn't support baking chickens alive. When a vandal shut down their ventilation system earlier this year, they offered a $50,000 reward and issued the statement, "these heinous acts resulted in a cruel death for several thousand chickens."
We understand that you admit shutting down ventilation presents concerns that "prolonged suffering may occur." This cruel method of euthanasia lets birds suffer intensely and slowly, and mass death can take over half an hour to occur. Some birds survive over three hours, enduring the pain of organ failure and heightened blood pressure.
We believe you need to find a humane solution to deal with bird flu. We respectfully urge you to abandon all plans to bake birds alive. Thank you for taking the time to read and consider our petition.
