If 600,000 people died in one year from preventable fires, we would do something about it. The problems is, the 600,000 sentient beings who perished weren’t people, and they couldn’t speak for themselves. Here, Maite Kropp gives them a voice.
Animal deaths in factory fires can be avoided
by Maite Kropp
Published in The Reporter, August 6, 2014
Prevention of tragedy has been a survival behavior of humankind since the beginning of human existence. Not all tragedies can be prevented, especially if they are caused by an “Act of God.” Lately, we have witnessed some very unforgettable tragedies caused by wildfires in many parts of the country due to the severe drought.
Thunderstorms/lightning, parched earth and dry vegetation are a dangerous and deadly combination. When one of these wildfires breaks, a sense of helplessness spreads rapidly among many people, fearing lost life of humans, wild animals, birds, insects, trees and vegetation.
The pain and suffering of all those that perish among the flames and smoke is hard to grasp.
Many wildfires could have been prevented but are not, because of an “Act of Stupidity,” caused by careless, thoughtless individuals with no regard to human or animal life.
Such acts of reckless, abandonment of common decency in respect to life are apparent when businesses involved in factory farming of cattle, pork, birds or egg producers, disregard providing safety for their animals by failing to install fire sprinkler systems and smoke detectors (which is not required by law), in all of their compounds where the animals are enclosed.
This past July 28, a preventable tragedy took the lives of 65,000 confined hens at one of the barns of Egg Innovations, an egg producer in Kosciusko County, Indiana.
It is mind boggling to think that the owners of such a large poultry factory farming business would not have installed the vital sprinkler systems, not only to avoid the scorching, suffering death of the ill-fated birds, but also to prevent business losses.
Perhaps there is a big insurance settlement.
Fire Chief Mike Harmon of Atwood, interviewed by WANE-TV of Fort Wayne stated, “Flames were showing. Probably shooting in the air about 20 feet.”
The issue of deadly fires in the business of factory farming has been addressed steadily for the last two years, thanks to United Poultry Concern, an organization dedicated to the protection of poultry. The goal of its founder, Karen Davis, PhD and many others is to propose a law across the country which will make it illegal not to provide the fire protection systems for these conscious creatures.
It is obvious that Egg Innovations failed to provide this basic security that would have prevented the death of these hens that were four weeks short of becoming egg producers. Currently, the owners of farm animals are not accountable for fires such as this.
As a result, chickens and other factory farmed animals burn alive as taxpayers pay via the U.S. Department of Agriculture through a reimbursement program that helps factory farmers rebuild and restock their facilities.
Egg Innovations advertises itself as a “free range” and “certified humane.”
Those who want to be a bit more informed should check the internet on the meaning of “certified humane” and who its members are.
Most of them are involved in factory style production and the labeling by Egg Innovations is deceptive to those who want to believe that the egg omelet they serve their family on a Sunday morning was produced the way the old farmers used to raise their hens.
For those of you who romanticize about getting your eggs from those old time farmers, the reality is factory farming has made them nearly extinct.
In 2012, 600,000 chickens and turkeys were killed by fires.
The National Fire Protection Association’s data tells that firefighters responded to 830 barn fires per year and the damage is equated to be about $28 million.
This said, NOW is the time to mandate a law that will prevent the death of sentient creatures in fires that CAN be prevented, with insurance premiums remaining accessible to all.
Maite Kropp is the founder of Harmony Kennels Foundation, a nonprofit educational organization that operates a permanent refuge for abused animals. Write her at P.O. Box 5112, Vacaville CA 95696 or e-mail at maite@hughes.net
