Ventilation Shutdown
FAQs
What is VSD+ in simple terms?
Ventilation Shutdown Plus (+) is the use of ventilation shutdown with added heat and/or gas, to kill large numbers of animals at once. Ventilation shutdown itself involves placing a flock or herd of animals into a building, sealing it up, and turning off the ventilation systems, so the temperature rises and gases accumulate, eventually killing the animals. This can take hours, and has been compared to leaving a dog in a hot car (with the heat on full blast, in the case of VSD+). It is a slow and arduous process that essentially amounts to baking animals to death. If done to a pet, this could be criminal.
How common is VSD+?
Tragically, VSD+ has become common in recent years as a method to kill poultry during bird flu outbreaks on farms. But the 2020 outbreak of COVID-19 among humans appears to be the first time VSD+ has been used to kill healthy animals simply because they are deemed “excess”: the slaughterhouses they’d normally be sent to were closed or running at partial capacity, causing animals to back up on farms. The industrial agriculture industry offers little transparency around its depopulation methods and reasoning, but since the COVID-19 outbreak began, to date, there have been at least two documented cases of pig herds killed for this reason, using VSD+. [See one example here.]
Are there signs of companies or producers reducing their use of VSD+?
Alarmingly, the opposite appears likely: industry-funded field trials are being conducted to learn how to carry out VSD+ killing more efficiently, such as by studying the ideal temperature and humidity levels.
What does the AVMA say about VSD+?
The AVMA’s depopulation guidelines are tiered, with “Preferred” methods meant to be used when possible. “Preferred” methods do not include Ventilation Shutdown in any form. VSD+ is currently classified as “Permitted in constrained circumstances.”
The AVMA’s Depopulation guidelines don’t apply to “precautionary” or “prophylactic” killing.The AVMA references the Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals and the AVMA Guidelines for the Humane Slaughter of Animals in circumstances necessitating prophylactic culling, neither of which includes Ventilation Shutdown in any form..
The AVMA’s depopulation guidelines’ discussions of ventilation shutdown methods are framed around circumstances involving time-sensitive animal disease outbreaks, i.e. not a circumstance of the sort faced by producers managing healthy animals as a result of slaughterhouse closures. Further, the poultry depopulation guidelines confusingly place VSD+ references under VSD headings—sometimes by pointing to USDA materials— without having separate provisions devoted to VSD+. Examples follow [underlining added]:
o Swine 4.5.2.2 VSD plus —“The most compelling reason to use VSD when all other methods have been ruled out is that, when done properly, it may provide a quicker death, potentially eliminating the chance for the animals to die over a longer period of time from distressing and devastating disease”)
o Poultry 6.9.7 VSD — “The USDA has published two documents pertaining to VSD. The first, HPAI Outbreak 2014–2015: Ventilation Shutdown Evidence and Policy,6 describes the rationale for supporting a revised depopulation policy for HPAI, setting a goal for poultry to be depopulated within 24 hours of a presumptive positive classification, on the basis of the current case definition. This document also contains a decision tree for selecting VSD as a depopulation method. The second document, HPAI Response Guidance: Using Ventilation Shutdown to Control HPAI,26 contains specifications for carrying out VSD, including general guidance, length and temperature of heating, and humidity and bird density. The USDA Response Guide states that “VSD is the last option that will be considered when selecting a depopulation method.” The Evidence and Policy statement delineates six requirements for using VSD for HPAI: 1. Other methods are not available or will not be available in a timely manner. 2. The amplification of the virus on the premises poses a significant threat for further transmission and ongoing spread of HPAI. 3. The questions in the Ventilation Shutdown Evidence and Policy document have been reviewed and discussed by APHIS officials, state or tribal officials, and the incident management team. 4. Incident management team approval. 5. State officials’ approval. 6. National Incident Coordinator approval.”
The AVMA’s website on“COVID-19 impacts on food production medicine” stresses the need for advanced planning, saying “all feasible alternatives should be explored and implemented prior to making such a decision [to euthanize or depopulate animals.]” It further calls for “the best possible animal welfare-focused decisions, with the least amount of animal suffering,” and reminds that should depopulation be deemed necessary, ““preferred methods” should be utilized first.”
Are there alternatives to VSD+?
Yes! The AVMA’s Euthanasia guidelines—meant to be used as a first option—include 7 methods for pigs and 10 methods for birds. The secondary option of the AVMA’s Depopulation guidelines includes 7 preferred methods for pigs, and 4 valid, preferred options for poultry.
Additionally, the Animal Welfare Institute just released this table of other depopulation methods that are available instead of VSD+.
How Do “Not Recommended” Methods Differ From Methods “Permitted in Constrained Circumstances”?
The AVMA says those depopulation methods it explicitly does not recommend “should be considered only when the circumstances preclude the reasonable implementation of any of the preferred methods or those permitted in constrained circumstances and when the risk of doing nothing is deemed likely to have a reasonable chance of resulting in significantly more animal suffering than that associated with the proposed depopulation technique.” This leaves only a very narrow and limited set of circumstances.
What do veterinarians say about VSD+?
Over one thousand veterinarians have already signed this petition, calling on AVMA to reclassify VSD+ as “not recommended,” as this method is inhumane and results in prolonged death, while other options are available instead. Poultry industry research concludes VSD with additional heat takes an average of two hours to kill egg-laying hens, which does not meet the AVMA’s standard of over 95% of animals dead in less than one hour.
The American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) recommends Ventilation Shutdown (VSD+) as a “last resort” option only if the facility can increase the temperature enough for 95% of the animals to die in less than an hour. According to AVMA-cited research and swine veterinarians, not only is that unrealistic in most barns, requiring extensive and costly retrofitting to meet the standards, but VSD+ remains inhumane, causing death by overheating and suffocation. The World Organization for Animal Health has farm animal depopulation guidelines, but they are only for purposes of disease control and they make no mention of ventilation shutdown in any form.
What are companies’ reasons for using VSD+?
VSD+ is used in the poultry and pig industries. Both are largely vertically integrated, meaning that companies—rather than farmers— own the animals, and decide how they are managed. The mass depopulation of animals using horrific methods is an outgrowth of the factory farming system, which now dominates the production of animals for food in the U.S.
Reasons offered by animal agribusiness for reserving VSD+ as a depopulation option during COVID-19, are all challenges that can be overcome with proper planning and implementation. For example, the challenge of killing an entire flock or herd of animals: the AVMA itself urges this, as do several food animal production accreditation programs, which require advanced planning for emergencies , as well as the psychological impacts on employees carrying out the depopulation. There is no reason that non-VSD+ methods cannot be used in place of the cruelest methods.
How are the AVMA guidelines used by the animal agriculture industry?
The AVMA’s depopulation guidelines are understandably considered the industry standard for those seeking guidance around depopulation. Unfortunately, various industry voices have construed the guidelines to justify using VSD+ even for foreseeable backups of healthy animals during COVID—and have pointed publicly to the guidelines as justification. AVMA’s silence on this matter has allowed this tragic misapplication of the guidelines’ apparent intentions to flourish.
What is this petition seeking?
We are asking the AVMA to classify Ventilation Shutdown Plus as “Not Recommended” for poultry and pigs. Currently, Ventilation Shutdown Plus is listed in the AVMA’s depopulation guidelines as “Permitted in constrained circumstances” for poultry and pigs. Reclassifying VSD+ would clarify that VSD+ is not an appropriate method for depopulating farm animals under any normally expected scenario.
How can I help?
Please sign the petition by December 31, asking the AVMA to classify all forms of VSD as “Not Recommended.”