Emergency slaughter situations including disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and supply chain disruptions require pre-planned welfare protocols to minimize suffering during mass depopulation events.
Emergency slaughter events represent some of the worst acute welfare crises in animal agriculture. The H5N1 avian influenza outbreaks that required depopulation of tens of millions of poultry revealed how inadequate planning and inadequate methods can create mass suffering at scale. Ventilation shutdown, in which air is cut off in poultry houses, produces a prolonged, distressing death that veterinary organizations have opposed as a routine method. Pre-planning with humane alternatives, trained personnel, and sufficient equipment significantly reduces the welfare harm of inevitable disease or emergency events.