Fire At Arizona Farm Kills Over 165,000 Hens
Only three ‘barns’ were caught in the fire, revealing just how tightly-packed together the tens of thousands of animals were inside.
Chickens in a ‘barn’ on an industrial farm. Credit: Jo-Anne McArthur / Lauren Veerslaat
Over 165,000 egg-laying hens have died after a fire broke out at a farm in Arizona.
Three warehouses, each packed with thousands of animals, were caught in the blaze at Hickman’s Family Farms in Arlington, near Phoenix. The fire is said to have started after a piece of equipment malfunctioned and caught fire, reports CNN.
The fire is an example of just how tightly-packed and overcrowded the conditions are on factory farms in America. Despite the farm’s “Family Farms” moniker, the herd of 165,000-plus hens would have likely spent their entire lives in these crowded sheds, where they were being kept to provide eggs.
Campaigners say that barn fires like this one are not uncommon, and that they are just another reason why factory farming must be phased out.
Barn Fires and Factory Farming
More than 1.6 million animals died in barn fires on U.S. farms last year, according to figures from the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI).
The fires themselves are reported to cause immense suffering to the animals trapped on the burning farms: whilst some animals die almost immediately, others have to be euthanized later due to severe burns and smoke inhalation.
“It is completely unacceptable for the industry to tolerate massive numbers of animals burning to death when there are effective fire prevention and suppression strategies available,” said Dena Jones, farm animal program director for AWI.
Of the 87 barn fires tracked by AWI last year, New York reported the most (10), followed by Pennsylvania (nine).
Earlier this year, AWI and more than 10,000 consumers asked the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association to assess fire risks and the adequacy of fire prevention and suppression at poultry facilities in the United States. The association’s president, John Starkey, has not yet responded.
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