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Foam depopulation

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Photo zoomed in showing primarily dead turkeys with some foam visible on them. A few turkeys are alive and walking around the ones who are not
Aftermath of foam depopulation being used on a flock of turkeys with a few still alive, as often occurs.

Foam depopulation or foaming is a means of mass killing farm animals by spraying foam over a large area to obstruct breathing and ultimately cause suffocation.[1] It is usually used to attempt to stop disease spread.[2] Foaming has also been used to kill farm animals after backlogs in slaughtering occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] Foam depopulation has been used on poultry and pigs and has seen initial research for use on cattle.[4] It has faced criticism from some groups. Some veterinarians have called it inhumane,[5] along with many animal rights and animal welfare organizations who cite the pain caused by suffocation or the harm experienced by the stray survivors.[6][7]

History

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Foam depopulation was developed in 2006 in response to a 2004 outbreak of H5N1.[8] It received conditional approval the same year in the US by the USDA-APHIS.[9]

In the 2015 H5N2 outbreak in the US, foaming was the primary method used to kill poultry en masse with it employed at 66% of locations.[10] However, since 2019, foaming has increasingly been replaced in the US with ventilation shutdown, a controversial method which relies on suffocation and heatstroke after shutting off airways into a building.[11]

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused supply chain disruption and meat packing closures. This led to a backlog in slaughtering—leading to many locations using foaming or ventilation shutdown to mass kill farm animals outside of the typical slaughtering process.[3]

Criticism

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Foam depopulation has been called inhumane by organizations such as the ASPCA,[12] Animal Justice,[13] and Mercy For Animals,[14] among others. Some veterinarians have also questioned the ethics of the method.[5] Concerns include the pain felt during suffocation and the stress or other effects on stray survivors seeing those who have died around them.[6][7]

Other groups, such as the Center for Biological Diversity, have raised issues about the usage of PFAS from farms using firefighting foam to accomplish foam depopulation.[15]

Additionally, some researchers have raised environmental concerns about water-based foam's resource usage. Amounts vary, but using 30,000 liters of water to produce foam is typical. Water is usually the majority of the foam with foam concentrate making up 1% of it.[16]

Global usage

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While first developed in the United States, foaming has seen use elsewhere.[17] For instance, usage is common in Israel[18] and Australia.[19][20]

Some countries' governing bodies have also given support more directly to foam depopulation. For instance, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has purchased equipment for foaming that can be issued out.[21] The United States National Veterinary Stockpile maintains foam depopulation units as well.[22]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "New weapon in war on bird flu: tiny bubbles". NBC News. 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  2. ^ Bolotnikova, Marina (2022-03-08). "'They're cooking them alive': calls to ban 'cruel' killing methods on US farms". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  3. ^ a b Kevany, Sophie (2020-04-29). "Millions of farm animals culled as US food supply chain chokes up". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  4. ^ Capria, Vittoria M; Arruda, Andréia G; Cheng, Ting-Yu; Campler, Magnus R; Youngblood, Brad L; Moeller, Steven J; Bowman, Andrew S; Kieffer, Justin D (2023-01-01). "Water-based medium-expansion foam depopulation of adult cattle". Translational Animal Science. 7 (1): txad065. doi:10.1093/tas/txad065. ISSN 2573-2102. PMC 10321402. PMID 37415594.
  5. ^ a b Donn, Jeff (2007-08-26). "Industry looking for 'humane' way to slay thousands". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  6. ^ a b Bolotnikova, Marina (2023-11-17). "Bird flu is surging again on poultry farms. The US is normalizing the cruelest mass killing method to stop it". Vox. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  7. ^ a b "Bird flu's grisly question: how to kill millions of poultry". AP News. 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
  8. ^ Gurung, Shailesh; Hoffman, John; Stringfellow, Kendre; Abi-Ghanem, Daad; Zhao, Dan; Caldwell, David; Lee, Jason; Styles, Darrel; Berghman, Luc; Byrd, James; Farnell, Yuhua; Archer, Gregory; Farnell, Morgan (2018-01-11). "Depopulation of Caged Layer Hens with a Compressed Air Foam System". Animals. 8 (1): 11. doi:10.3390/ani8010011. ISSN 2076-2615. PMC 5789306. PMID 29324639.
  9. ^ Benson, E.R.; Alphin, R.L.; Dawson, M.D.; Malone, G.W. (May 2009). "Use of water-based foam to depopulate ducks and other species". Poultry Science. 88 (5): 904–910. doi:10.3382/ps.2008-00268. PMID 19359675.
  10. ^ Final Report for the 2014–2015 Outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in the United States (PDF) (Report). August 11, 2016.
  11. ^ Reyes-Illg, Gwendolen; Martin, Jessica E.; Mani, Indu; Reynolds, James; Kipperman, Barry (2022-12-29). "The Rise of Heatstroke as a Method of Depopulating Pigs and Poultry: Implications for the US Veterinary Profession". Animals. 13 (1): 140. doi:10.3390/ani13010140. ISSN 2076-2615. PMC 9817707. PMID 36611748.
  12. ^ "Our Fight Against Inhumane "Depopulation" Methods | ASPCA". www.aspca.org. August 6, 2020. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  13. ^ Labchuk, Camille (2022-07-05). ""Live Birds Buried Under Dead Ones": Whistleblower Speaks Out About Avian Flu Cull". Animal Justice. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  14. ^ Bugga, Hannah (2020-08-05). "Mercy For Animals Urges Congress Not to Fund Cruel Mass Killing". Mercy For Animals. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  15. ^ Kevany, Sophie (2020-06-30). "Ban burning and burying of animals in US Covid-19 farm culls, NGOs urge". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  16. ^ Benson, E. R.; Alphin, R. L.; Rankin, M. K.; Caputo, M. P.; Hougentogler, D. P.; Johnson, A. L. (Dec 2012). "Mass Emergency Water-Based Foam Depopulation of Poultry". Avian Diseases. 56 (4s1): 891–896. doi:10.1637/10160-040912-Reg.1. ISSN 0005-2086. PMID 23402109. S2CID 22903879.
  17. ^ "Mas Depop & Euthanasia – Avian Euthanasia" (PDF). Foreign Animal Disease Preparedness & Response Plan (FAD PReP)/National Animal Health Emergency Management System (NAHEMS). 2015.
  18. ^ Avidov, R.; Sudharsan Varma, V.; Saadi, I.; Hanan, A.; Yoselevich, I.; Lublin, A.; Chen, Y.; Laor, Y. (Jan 2021). "Physical and chemical indicators of transformations of poultry carcass parts and broiler litter during short term thermophilic composting". Waste Management. 119: 202–214. Bibcode:2021WaMan.119..202A. doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2020.09.040. ISSN 0956-053X. PMID 33070090. S2CID 224784653.
  19. ^ Angus, Crossan (November 2014). Development and Extension of Industry Best Practice for On-Farm Euthanasia of Spent Layer Hens (PDF) (Report). ISBN 978-1-921010-53-8.
  20. ^ Operational manual: Destruction of animals (PDF) (Report). Animal Health Australia. 2015. ISBN 978-1-876-71438-3.
  21. ^ John, Weaver (October 2016). PVS Evaluation Report (PDF) (Report). World Organisation for Animal Health.
  22. ^ 2024 USDA EXPLANATORY NOTES – ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE (PDF) (Report). 2024.
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