THL
Ventilation Shutdown Plus (VSD+) is a method used by farmers to control the spread of avian influenza. The suffering can last for hours before the birds finally die.
Confirmed cases of avian influenza (H5N1) have sparked horrific mass killings of turkeys, caged hens, and chickens raised for meat. In 2022, millions of birds have been deliberately suffocated in a process that involves shutting down ventilation and pumping in heat, spiking temperatures to above 104°F (40°C).
Transcript
Vicky Bond: The animal’s heart is likely racing. She’s seeking an exit, thrashing against the walls, desperate for oxygen. She’s panting and gasping for air, obviously panicking and experiencing extreme distress as the air gets hotter. It can take hours of profound suffering for animals to finally die.
That is ventilation shutdown plus.
Narrator: In February of 2022, poultry farmers began seeing signs of a new outbreak of avian influenza, or bird flu. Over the last few months, the disease has been ravaging poultry farms across the US. To curb the spread of this highly infectious illness, farmers deliberately exterminate or “cull” their entire flocks when a single positive case is detected. That could mean millions of healthy birds.
Vicky Bond: Ventilation shutdown is exactly what it sounds like—farmers seal off ventilation in their sheds, slowly suffocating thousands of birds who eventually die from organ failure due to heatstroke. The "plus" stands for ventilation shutdown plus heat or carbon dioxide. While carbon dioxide results in a faster time to death, VSD plus heat is the only method being used right now.
Farmers usually pump in a combination of heat or steam, spiking temperatures in their sheds to above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The process for animals is terrifying and excruciating. They’re basically being baked alive.
Narrator: Ventilation shutdown was originally designed to be used only as a last resort. But in 2020, the pig industry began using it to kill large numbers of pigs when shuttered slaughterhouses resulted in a surplus of animals. Since then, VSD+ has become more and more prevalent and is now being used on an unprecedented scale. Over the course of this bird flu outbreak, 73% of mass cullings have been carried out using ventilation shutdown.
Despite its obvious cruelty, the American Veterinary Medical Association—or the AVMA—has endorsed the practice of ventilation shutdown—based on one study funded by the poultry industry.
A research group at North Carolina State University received a grant from the US Poultry and Egg Association to validate VSD+ as a method for killing hens. That study earned the researchers an award from the poultry industry. Following the publication of this single, poorly designed, industry-funded study, the AVMA listed ventilation shutdown as “permitted in constrained circumstances.” And the poultry industry now uses the excuse that VSD+ is “AVMA-approved.”
Vicky Bond: Animal advocates, including many veterinarians, are united in their opposition to ventilation shutdown and are urgently calling on the AVMA to disendorse this practice. By ending its support now, the AVMA can save millions more animals from extreme suffering.
