AVMA Guide Greenlights Ghastly Depopulation Methods

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has released an updated edition of its Guidelines for the Depopulation of Animals, which the federal and some state governments use to set policy related to the mass killing of flocks or herds of farmed animals for disease control or other reasons. When a draft of the Guidelines was released for comment, AWI submitted more than 120 technical comments flagging errors, omissions, and overlooked scientific research. We also worked with veterinary and animal protection organizations to develop a sign-on letter urging the AVMA to discourage use of a depopulation method called “ventilation shutdown plus” (VSD+)—which induces fatal heatstroke in animals—by reclassifying it to Tier 3 (the least preferred level—labeled “not recommended” in prior editions of the Guidelines). This letter, signed by 868 veterinarians and veterinary students, also called for a reclassification to Tier 3 of two other methods that result in poor animal welfare: water-based foam, which kills by blocking an animal’s windpipe with wet foam, and manual blunt force trauma.

The AVMA, unfortunately, adopted none of the letter’s recommendations and very few of those suggested in AWI’s technical comments. While the Guidelines are touted as a tool to help ensure depopulations “are carried out as humanely as possible,” descriptions of many methods lack information about the killing mechanism and what the animals likely experience before losing consciousness. The AVMA’s conclusions regarding the acceptability of several methods differ markedly from those of other national and international animal health authorities.

The 2026 Guidelines do include some improvements over the 2019 edition. They now at least describe higher-welfare depopulation methods, such as nitrogen gassing and high-expansion nitrogen foam, and the chapter on pig depopulation has downgraded heatstroke-based depopulation methods to Tier 3. In addition, the poultry chapter now cites the importance of advanced preparedness—a crucial component given that millions of birds each year are killed with VSD+, in part due to lack of preparation to apply higher-welfare methods.

See more AWI Quarterly articles about: Farmed Animals

See more AWI Quarterly articles of type: Quick Read