Mass culling of poultry flocks during avian influenza outbreaks raises significant welfare concerns — improving emergency culling methods is an urgent welfare priority.
The mass culling of poultry during avian influenza outbreaks represents one of the most significant and largely invisible sources of animal welfare crisis in modern agriculture. The speed required by disease control imperatives and the enormous numbers involved create pressure to use methods that would be unacceptable in routine slaughter. Ventilation shutdown — depriving birds of air until they die from heat or suffocation — has been documented causing deaths lasting hours, representing severe welfare failure. The welfare imperative is clear: emergency culling protocols should be developed in advance, the most humane available methods should be pre-approved and stockpiled, and welfare assessment should be incorporated into emergency disease control planning.