Pathfinder
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USDA Adds Suffocation to Bird Flu Euthanasia Methods
By DAVID PITT, ASSOCIATED PRESS DES MOINES, Iowa ? Sep 18, 2015, 4:53 PM ET
Ventilation systems at poultry barns affected by bird flu would be shut off as a means of suffocating entire flocks if other methods of euthanasia cannot be completed within 24 hours, according to a new federal bird flu control policy released Friday.
The practice, which immediately drew criticism from animal rights groups, is part of a new set of policies the U.S. Department of Agriculture developed in response to the H5N2 virus, which swept through 15 states and killed 48 million birds, mostly chickens and turkeys.
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The new euthanasia policy also initiates a 24-hour "stamping-out" policy, after which the USDA is authorized to approve ventilation shutdown, but only after federal and state officials and the producer agree that no other method would meet the 24-hour deadline.
In this method, the heat is turned up in the barns, which are sealed, and ventilators shut down. Within 30 to 40 minutes, the birds suffocate and die from heat stress.
"It's something we do not do lightly and we want to make sure all other options are exhausted," said Dr. T.J. Myers, associate deputy administrator for veterinary services at USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. "There are humane questions here, but the other side of that humane coin is if we can prevent four, five or six additional flocks from becoming positive then that is something that we really want to try and do."
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http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/usda-adds-suffocation-bird-flu-euthanasia-methods-33865981
By DAVID PITT, ASSOCIATED PRESS DES MOINES, Iowa ? Sep 18, 2015, 4:53 PM ET
Ventilation systems at poultry barns affected by bird flu would be shut off as a means of suffocating entire flocks if other methods of euthanasia cannot be completed within 24 hours, according to a new federal bird flu control policy released Friday.
The practice, which immediately drew criticism from animal rights groups, is part of a new set of policies the U.S. Department of Agriculture developed in response to the H5N2 virus, which swept through 15 states and killed 48 million birds, mostly chickens and turkeys.
...
The new euthanasia policy also initiates a 24-hour "stamping-out" policy, after which the USDA is authorized to approve ventilation shutdown, but only after federal and state officials and the producer agree that no other method would meet the 24-hour deadline.
In this method, the heat is turned up in the barns, which are sealed, and ventilators shut down. Within 30 to 40 minutes, the birds suffocate and die from heat stress.
"It's something we do not do lightly and we want to make sure all other options are exhausted," said Dr. T.J. Myers, associate deputy administrator for veterinary services at USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. "There are humane questions here, but the other side of that humane coin is if we can prevent four, five or six additional flocks from becoming positive then that is something that we really want to try and do."
...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/usda-adds-suffocation-bird-flu-euthanasia-methods-33865981