This is despicable. I know that the laws in most states exempt industrial agriculture from criminal laws on animal abuse, but this kind of crap has got to stop. Or we stop eating meat and bankrupt these corporations.
Excerpt from this story from Nation of Change:
Ventilation shutdown plus (VSD+) is an incredibly inhumane method of killing lots of animals at once by shutting off the air supply and driving up temperatures, causing organ failure and suffocation. It must stop.
Surging temperatures from heat pumped into an airless shed leave animals trapped inside, making it increasingly challenging for them to breathe. Eventually, after enduring hours of suffering, these animals suffocate and die in agony. This scenario is real, and the results are intentional. VSD+ is a brutal method of putting an entire flock—or herd—of animals to death all at once.
No animal should ever endure hours of suffering to die in extreme heat. However, in 2022, millions of chickens were killed through this horrific practice due to the avian influenza, or bird flu, which reemerged in bird populations across the United States, including the earlier outbreak in 2020. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, between February 2022 and August 2024, 100.71 million poultry were affected in the United States, including both commercially raised and backyard flocks. To stop the highly infectious virus from spreading, poultry farmers began culling entire flocks of chickens and turkeys raised to produce eggs or meat, meaning millions of birds were put to death using VSD+.
VSD+ is a process in which barns or sheds, where chickens or other animals live, are closed tightly, ventilation is sealed, fans are turned off, and heat, steam, or gas is turned on. As the temperature inside the building soars above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the animals inside die from suffocation, heat stroke, and organ failure. This process occurs over long hours, where animals are essentially baked alive.
Ventilation shutdown (VSD) is the process of shutting off ventilation, allowing temperatures inside a building to rise or fall naturally. Ventilation shutdown plus (VSD+) is a specific method of depopulation that involves shutting off ventilation and pumping in heat or carbon dioxide.
It would be criminal to deliberately allow a pet to die through forced heat and suffocation. Therefore, it is unacceptable to allow farm animals to perish in this way. This thought process has led veterinarians to demand that the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) reclassify VSD+ as “not recommended.”
There’s a problematic loophole in which the AVMA approves VSD+ for culling chickens and pigs in “constrained circumstances.” This method of slaughter is anything but humane, as animals die in a long and painful fashion from VSD+. This raises the question: Why is VSD+ happening in the first place? The answer has everything to do with the rampant spread of disease on factory farms.
