Farmers, retailer house owners, and different recipients of chicks despatched by means of the mail have reported that delayed deliveries have led to extra animals dying en route. Sadly, it will doubtless proceed, with USPS operations tormented by slowdowns.
Moreover, the total scale of this drawback will stay exhausting to find out with out extra transparency. Many extra animals are doubtless dying than these reported within the media, and the USPS doesn’t report the variety of reside animals it ships yearly or what number of die inside its system.
At Farm Sanctuary, now we have seen birds undergo the impacts of reside mailing. In 2013, greater than 100 birds had been shipped from Texas to Alabama, however traveled almost 1,000 additional miles and arrived in Washington, DC, the place native animal management alerted Farm Sanctuary. Simply two years later, a field containing 15 chicks was about to be stamped “return to sender” till a postal employee heard their peeps and helped to seek out them a house with us.
The general public, too, is put in danger by sending animals by means of the nation’s mail. Round three of each 4 rising ailments are zoonotic in nature, capable of transmit between animals and people. 5 years after the world confronted a zoonotic COVID-19 pandemic, chicken flu is proliferating in animal agriculture, and transport has exacerbated its unfold from farm to farm throughout the nation. Delivery reside animals by way of the USPS presents an pointless and harmful danger to public well being.
Whereas different mail carriers ship reside animals, the USPS, as a authorities company, has the prospect and duty to set the usual. I hope you’ll take motion to stop unnecessary struggling and cut back the danger of spreading zoonotic illness by ending the transport of reside animals by means of our nation’s postal service.
