Legislation/Policy Article from All-Creatures.org

AVMA Passes Resolution Deeming Depopulation 'Ethical,' Only One Delegate Abstains

From OurHonor.org
July 2024

Since 2022, more than 97.1 million birds have been depopulated [VSD Ventilation Shutdown] due to the highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak. Depopulation refers to the mass killing of animals during emergencies or infectious disease outbreaks. In large facilities, producers resort to sealing up buildings, pumping in heat, and waiting for the animals inside to die from heatstroke, in a process known as ventilation shutdown plus (VSD+).

BACKGROUND: Motivating the AVMA to envision a world without Ventilation Shutdown AND Gruesome Footage Shows Pigs Roasted Alive at Iowa's Leading Pork Supplier Amid Coronavirus Crisis

On June 21, 2024, the American Veterinary Medical Association House of Delegates voted to adopt its new Principles of Veterinary Medical Ethics, which added the language, “Depopulation of animals is an ethical veterinary procedure when the AVMA Guidelines for the Depopulation of Animals is followed.” Only one House of Delegate member, Martha Smith-Blackmore of Massachusetts, was willing to speak out against it.

Since 2022, more than 97.1 million birds have been depopulated due to the highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak. Depopulation refers to the mass killing of animals during emergencies or infectious disease outbreaks. In large facilities, producers resort to sealing up buildings, pumping in heat, and waiting for the animals inside to die from heatstroke, in a process known as ventilation shutdown plus (VSD+).

This language has sparked outrage among veterinarians and animal advocates. More than 2,000 veterinarians have signed in support of Veterinarians Against Ventilation Shutdown, urging the AVMA to reclassify VSD+ as “not recommended”. The AVMA’s permissiveness of this method allows producers to receive United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) livestock indemnity payments when this method is used to end the lives of animals. The policy allows billion-dollar corporations like Jennie-O Turkey Store, which has received $105 million in taxpayer-subsidized bailouts for the loss of its birds, to avoid implementing plans to use less cruel methods of depopulation.

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Please read the ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE, including:

• Comment on and share Dr. Kipperman's Commentary
• Veterinarians: How to contact your AVMA delegate 

Image from AnimalOutlook and Veterinarians Against Ventilation Shutdown: Brutal University Researchers Torture Hens in Ventilation Shutdown Experiments So Millions of Birds Can Die in Agony on U.S. Farms

Dead Pigs after "VSD"...

 

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Posted on All-Creatures.org: July 5, 2024
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