The United States Postal Service recently discovered 12,000 chicks in a truck after being left without food or water in extreme heat for three and a half days. According to the USPS, the incident at the Delaware mail distribution center is under investigation.
An estimated 8,100 birds were still alive upon discovery—thousands had already died. While the group of birds included young turkeys, geese, and quails, most were baby chickens from Pennsylvania-based Freedom Ranger Hatchery. The company sends weekly shipments of chicks to clients across the country.
Citing “biosecurity concerns,” the hatchery refused to take back the chicks and even put out a statement that the USPS should have delivered the chicks—including the malnourished ones—to their original recipients. Luckily, this is not what the USPS did.
Delaware animal shelter First State Animal Center and SPCA took possession of the chicks and spent two weeks diligently nursing them back to health. The donation-reliant nonprofit was forced to increase their staff and become a 24/7 operation to give the chicks adequate care. John Parana, the executive director of First State Animal Center and SPCA, said:
On May 2, we got a phone call from an investigator from the Department of Agriculture informing the shelter that we were going to be receiving 240 birds that were left at the post office in New Castle, Delaware. When the large truck came in and backed in, we found out it was 240 to 300 crates, and each crate contained numerous birds. These crates were wet with dead fowl—it was a mess.
The shelter recently began offering the birds for adoption. Parana said, “We want to get them adopted just due to the fact that we are the SPCA; we are a no-kill shelter in the state of Delaware.” So far, only a few hundred of the thousands have been picked up. Those only interested in adopting the birds for meat were refused.
How 12,000 fragile chicks were abandoned in a truck at the mail distribution center is still an open question. But while this situation is heartbreaking, shipping live animals often ends in tragedy. We can fight this horrific practice simply by leaving eggs and meat off our plates. Check out our ultimate guide to vegan eggs!
