VAVSD.org

Join us in asking the AVMA to classify Ventilation Shutdown (VSD/VSD+) as “Not recommended” in the 2019 AVMA Guidelines for the Depopulation of Animals.

[VAVSD.org @VetsAgainstVSD]

Just published in @vet_record Professor of Veterinary Ethics @ucdavisvetmed Dr. Barry Kipperman calls on @AVMAvets to reclassify mass killing of animals via heat stroke as "not recommended." #animalwelfare #vettwitter #humaneendings #veterinary #vetmed https://t.co/vRGDHPKL63

[VAVSD.org @VetsAgainstVSD]

"And because it’s logistically difficult to cull so many animals in a massive complex, these mega factory farms have also been linked to the rise of an especially disturbing method being used to mass kill animals in the bird flu: ventilation shutdown..."

[Vox @voxdotcom]

9 charts that show US factory farming is even bigger than you realize https://t.co/uJ9IuJBV4C

[Alex Ⓥ #pigoneer 𓃟 🌱 @InfiniteRadar]

Despite more humane alternatives, the poultry industry continues to use ventilation shutdown to cull millions of birds in the cruellest ways.

And the public is paying for it.
https://t.co/oPYvzX1FDw

[Crystal Heath DVM @drcrystalheath]

“In the letter, the lawmakers wrote, ‘We are concerned with reports and analysis indicating that the use of Ventilation Shutdown Plus Heat (VSD+ Heat) has become the default method for depopulations during this outbreak, despite the serious welfare implications involved. Analysis by the @AWIOnline of USDA records from February 2022 to July 2023 indicates that an extremely high percentage of birds (over 83%) were killed in depopulation events that used VSD+ Heat as their sole depopulation method (13.6 million birds) or as one of multiple depopulation methods employed (35.4 million birds).”  

In addition to @JuliaBrownley, the letter was signed by 29 Members of Congress including @RepAdamSchiff, Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. (D-NC) Ph.D. (D-NC), @ANTHONYDESPO, @BarbaraLeeForCA, @BillPascrell, @BrianFitzUSA, Dan Goldman (D-NY), David J. Trone (D-MD), Dina Titus (D-NV), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), James P. McGovern (D-MA), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Jason Crow (D-CO), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Judy Chu (D-CA),  @katieporteroc, Linda T. Sánchez (D-CA), Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Mike Quigley (D-IL), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Norma J. Torres (D-CA), @RoKhanna, Salud Carbajal (D-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Troy E. Nehls (R-TX), and Veronica Escobar (D-TX).

#onehealth #vetmed #vettwitter #veterinarymedicine #animalwelfare #animalrights #foodfruth #farmtofork #farmtotable

https://t.co/5YExP5DhoL

[Crystal Heath DVM @drcrystalheath]

Thank you Dan Dizney of Eugene for this letter in the Eugene Weekly:

‘VENTILATION SHUTDOWN’
Were you aware it is perfectly legal in Oregon to subject certain animals to inhumane and even tortuous treatment?

 Hyperbole, you say? Recently in Oregon over 750,000 chickens were killed (euthanized would be a gross misuse of the English language) by way of what the state vet calls “ventilation shutdown.” As you may know, today’s factory chicken farms cram thousands of birds into rearing buildings. The state in response to the avian flu epidemic allowed growers to shut down the ventilation systems in these buildings and introduce some heat so that the birds slowly die of heatstroke. These animals are alive and suffering for hours before they succumb. 

“Well this had to be done due to the bird flu” some might say. Well no, Oregon is only one of five states that allows this arcane practice. The others mandate more humane methods for dealing with such situations. Please contact your state government reps.  

DAN DIZNEY
EUGENE 

https://t.co/LD93YFey9u

[VAVSD.org @VetsAgainstVSD]

“@mbolotnikova describes the American Veterinary Medical Association (@AVMAvets) study used to approve this method as poorly written and sloppy. Although it was only approved in constrained circumstances, it has still become the norm for depopulation.”

[VAVSD.org @VetsAgainstVSD]

“The stance of the American Veterinary Medicine Association (@AVMAvets) is pretty horrifying,” Moore said. “A large part of the veterinary industry is to support these large farming industries, which I think is very counterproductive to the interests of [taxpayers].”

[Crystal Heath DVM @drcrystalheath]

“I think you’re left with this position where you have to realize that if you eat meat from a factory farm, you are in effect saying that your preference for the taste of meat is more important than the suffering that the animal endured,” Hope said.

“We need young people who are thinking about what they’re going to do with their lives to be working on these issues,” @mbolotnikova said. “If I can get one person to get super interested in this and work on changing the policy in some way, that would be amazing.”

#foodtruth #farmtofork #onehealth #vetmed #vettwitter #animalrights #animalwelfare #vegan

@OurHonorVets @VetsAgainstVSD

https://t.co/JUIjXcmp25

[VAVSD.org @VetsAgainstVSD]

@EastBayTimes Will you join us in urging companies to stop killing their animals with heatstroke? https://t.co/oJcQ0Lj3rk

[VAVSD.org @VetsAgainstVSD]

US taxpayers were forced to hand over millions of dollars to bailout corporations like Hormel Foods, Tyson Foods, and others, that cruelly killed their animals with heatstroke. We are asking them to pledge not to use VSD+ again. Will you join us?

https://t.co/qogRrkNfHo

[VAVSD.org @VetsAgainstVSD]

@InfiniteRadar @OurHonorVets Will you join us in urging companies to stop killing their animals with heatstroke? https://t.co/oJcQ0Lj3rk

[VAVSD.org @VetsAgainstVSD]

US taxpayers were forced to hand over millions of dollars to bailout corporations like Hormel Foods, Tyson Foods, and others, that cruelly killed their animals with heatstroke. We are asking them to pledge not to use VSD+ again. Will you join us?

https://t.co/qogRrkNfHo

[VAVSD.org @VetsAgainstVSD]

@MartinSinel @OurHonorVets @envplane Will you join us in urging companies to stop killing their animals with heatstroke? https://t.co/oJcQ0Lj3rk

[VAVSD.org @VetsAgainstVSD]

US taxpayers were forced to hand over millions of dollars to bailout corporations like Hormel Foods, Tyson Foods, and others, that cruelly killed their animals with heatstroke. We are asking them to pledge not to use VSD+ again. Will you join us?

https://t.co/qogRrkNfHo

[VAVSD.org @VetsAgainstVSD]

@mercnews Will you join us in urging companies to stop killing their animals with heatstroke?

[VAVSD.org @VetsAgainstVSD]

US taxpayers were forced to hand over millions of dollars to bailout corporations like Hormel Foods, Tyson Foods, and others, that cruelly killed their animals with heatstroke. We are asking them to pledge not to use VSD+ again. Will you join us?

https://t.co/qogRrkNfHo

[VAVSD.org @VetsAgainstVSD]

US taxpayers were forced to hand over millions of dollars to bailout corporations like Hormel Foods, Tyson Foods, and others, that cruelly killed their animals with heatstroke. We are asking them to pledge not to use VSD+ again. Will you join us?

https://t.co/qogRrkNfHo

[VAVSD.org @VetsAgainstVSD]

@sltrib Thank you for publishing this excellent article. Now, more than 2,000 veterinarians have signed onto Veterinarians Against Ventilation Shutdown.

Will you join us at https://t.co/5sBdhGD4e2?

[Animal Welfare Institute @AWIOnline]

Check out this @daytondailynews op-ed by AWI consultants Dr. Gwendy Reyes-Illg and Vicki Deisner about the horrors of ventilation shutdown plus heat (VSD+), which is used to “depopulate” farmed birds during #birdflu outbreaks in Ohio and beyond. https://t.co/EX9Ympjib9

[Sentient @Sentient_Media]

Despite more humane alternatives, the poultry industry continues to use ventilation shutdown to cull millions of birds in the cruelest ways.
https://t.co/sKasz4siXZ

[Western Geography & Environment @westernuGeoEnv]

🎉👏Congratulations to @MartinSinel on his first publication! "Ventilation shutdown and the breath-taking violence of infectious disease emergency management in industrial livestock production"
https://t.co/qveqjfabu9

[Martin Sinel @MartinSinel]

Our new paper "Ventilation shutdown and the breath-taking violence of infectious disease emergency management in industrial livestock production" is open access in @envplane:

https://t.co/LWiTY7ZysY

[Crystal Heath DVM @drcrystalheath]

"The recent outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza has brought the modern industry’s sociopathy to light. When animals get sick, the methods used to end their lives, while expedient for the corporation, cause prolonged suffering for the animals."

@ourhonorvets @vetsagainstvsd

#onehealth #vetmed #veterinarymedicine #foodtruth #farmtofork #farmtotable #avianinfluenza #plantbased #vegan #animalrights #animalwelfare

[Crystal Heath DVM @drcrystalheath]

Thank you, @EastBayTimes for publishing my op-ed about how the "high-welfare" cage-free egg producer Weber Family Farms in Petaluma, CA after becoming infected with avian influenza, killed their birds en masse via heatstroke. They had failed to put plans in place to end the lives of their birds in less cruel ways. They also took nearly $5 million from us to bail them out for the loss of their birds, whether we buy from them or not.

"The mass killing of animals via heatstroke should not be accepted as an unchangeable fact. We must stop incentivizing sociopathy and cruelty and instead support slaughter-free farmers and businesses that embody the values current intensive slaughter-based production systems lack: responsibility and compassion. It isn’t just selfless, though. It turns out that by protecting the animals, we protect our own species, too."

#onehealth #vetmed #vettwitter #veterinarymedicine #plantbased #vetstudent #veterinarystudent #foodtruth #farmtofork #farmtotable #superbowl #corporatebailouts #animalrights #animalwelfare #plantbased #vegan

[Crystal Heath DVM @drcrystalheath]

Second-year veterinary student at Utah State University and @OurHonorVets representative, Larrea Cottingham, published this Op-Ed in the @sltrib describing the high costs of the chicken slaughter industry, not just to the birds themselves, but to the workers, wildlife, and taxpayers forced to turn over billions of dollars to support the salaries of wealthy industry executives whose risky business model threatens public health.

“Our Honor, a veterinary organization dedicated to ending the suffering of all animals, sent FOIA requests to The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the United States Department of Agriculture and found that, since the beginning of the HPAI outbreak, Jennie-O Turkey Store received more than $85 million in bailouts for avian influenza, while Tyson Foods received $29 million. Both companies resorted to using VSD+ to kill their birds while the combined 2023 compensation of their two CEOs summed $20 million dollars.”

#onehealth #avianinfluenza #vetstudent #veterinarystudent #animalscience #foodtruth #farmtofork #farmtotable #plantbased #vegan #animalrights #animalwelfare

https://t.co/g33Bp1FOOa

[Crystal Heath DVM @drcrystalheath]

Thank you, @melissamyrna_ of the @fresnobee, for this in-depth report about the worker injuries and deaths at Pitman Family Farms in Fresno.

Pitman is the maker of the so-called "high welfare" Mary’s Free-Range Chicken as well as the Mary’s Free-Range Duck brand sold in fancy restaurants and grocery stores. Recently, when they were infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza, after failing to put plans in place to end the lives of their animals in less cruel ways, they resorted to sealing up barns, pumping in heat until the animals died of heatstroke in a process known as ventilation shutdown plus (VSD+). The company received more than $20 million dollars in bailouts at the expense of United States taxpayers.

According to data obtained from USDA/APHIS, a total of 984,102 birds have been killed en masse due to avian influenza at Pitman Family Farms facilities, including 817,877 turkeys, 131,491 broiler chickens, and 34,734.

Heatstroke-based killing was used on more than 35% of Pitman Family Farms' depopulated flocks, with more than 48% of the total bailout money received compensating them for flocks killed using heatstroke.

Worse yet, they are hoping to expand in Lemoore, CA and Pitman plans to add “16 new poultry barns and would include an additional 485,000 chickens, for a new total of approximately 550,000 chickens. The project includes the construction of 432,000 square feet of new poultry barns.” @vetsagainstvsd @ourhonorvets

See our compiled data here: https://t.co/yW6js4jIAI

#onehealth #vetmed #vettwitter #veterinarymedicine #vegan #animalwelfare #animalrights #foodtruth #farmtofork #farmtotable #animalscience