Foaming, gassing and ventilation shutdown are some of the methods farmers use to murder their animals. Farms and slaughterhouses in the United States have killed at least two million animals since meat production slowed down due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“I am alarmed by the use of heat exposure, mass suffocation, and drowning, which cause animals unnecessary suffering,” said Congressman Lloyd Doggett from Texas. “How we treat animals is a reflection of our humanity.”
Foaming is one of the killing methods. Chickens are covered with a layer of foam to block their airways. They can’t breathe and slowly suffocate.
Ventilation shutdown means stopping the ventilation systems. Temperatures go up and chickens overheat and die of organ failure. Animal protection organization Mercy for Animals calls it one of the cruelest ways to kill an animal.
Politicians have sent a letter to Sonny Perdue, US Secretary of Agriculture, urging him to stop mass suffocation and ventilation shutdowns.
“The process is inhumane, distressing, and painful for the animals who can take many hours to die. This method has not been approved as a depopulation method by the World Organisation for Animal Health, even in extreme cases,” the politicians said about ventilation shutdown in the letter.
Since meat producers in the country had to close their doors due to the coronavirus, farmers have been ‘stuck’ with their animals. They see no more option than to kill them.
In Iowa, the biggest pig producing state in the US, 700 thousand pigs per week will be killed if the situation doesn’t change.
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