Tell the USDA to Stop Incentivizing Heatstroke to Kill Farmed Animals 

Since early 2022, more than 186 million chickens, turkeys, and other farmed birds have been “depopulated” (killed en masse and disposed of) due to detection on farms of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), a.k.a. “bird flu.” On large industrial farms, a commonly used depopulation method is “ventilation shutdown plus heat” (VSD+), which causes death by inducing heatstroke—similar to what pets experience when locked in a hot car. The US Department of Agriculture oversees the response to HPAI and provides compensation to producers for HPAI-related losses using taxpayer dollars. Despite the large number of birds impacted, the department has done little to protect animal welfare during this crisis. Join AWI in calling on the USDA to prioritize animal welfare by incentivizing more humane depopulation methods, setting caps on the maximum number of birds per production operation to reduce disease spread, and taking steps to help protect against future outbreaks.