NY Times: A Cruel Way to Control Bird Flu? Poultry Giants Cull and Cash In.
Perdue chicken factory farm. Photo by David Harp.
The April 2, 2024 New York Times article
“A
Cruel Way to Control Bird Flu? Poultry Giants Cull and Cash In.” provides
an in-depth analysis of the bird flu pandemic rather than solely attributing
blame to migratory birds.
Article summary: Since 2021, a highly lethal form of avian influenza (H5N1) has spread globally, resulting in the deaths of millions of birds and significant economic losses for poultry farmers in the United States. The US Department of Agriculture paid over half a billion dollars in indemnification to poultry producers such as Tyson and Jennie-O who were required to cull their flocks due to the outbreak. These payments at the expense of US taxpayers, reinforce industrial farming methods, which produce concentrated animal waste and create environments conducive to pathogen mutation.
“Critics say the program also promotes animal cruelty by allowing farmers to euthanize their flocks by shutting down a barn’s ventilation system and pumping in hot air, a method that can take hours. Chickens and turkeys that survive are often dispatched by a twist of the neck.”
Please take the time to read and advocate for the birds by submitting a
comment at the bottom of the article.
Update: Comments are closed, but you can still submit a letter to the editor at letters@nytimes.com.
For more information about ventilation shutdown and other methods used
to exterminate chickens on the farm, please read:
The Use of Chickens in Agricultural Research: An Eye-Opening Look at
Unspeakable Cruelty