GOING "POSTAL" ON ANIMALS

A barn full of birds!

Animal Services in Oakland, California took custody of hundreds of one-day old chicks who had been shipped from a Santa Cruz hatchery for a destination in Washington State. The agency was alerted when the Oakland Airport Postal Service discovered dying and dead chicks in five boxes -- they had been sealed into the boxes without food or water, then dropped off at the post office for shipping, as though they were a box of books or CDs.

Neither the hatchery, nor any other agency, was charged with cruelty to animals because shipping chicks through the postal service is common practice, and legal. Each year millions of chicks are shipped through the mail, without food, water or proper housing, and as a result, large numbers suffer and die before reaching their destination. The losses are expected and accepted as "standard business operation" by the industry.

Animal Acres volunteers unload the birds.

The Oakland chicks were less than a day old when their nightmarish journey began, but their ordeal finally ended at Animal Acres. On July 4th, two dedicated volunteers from East Bay Animal Advocates drove 8 long hours to deliver the birds to our sanctuary. As soon as they arrived, the birds were quickly unloaded and given water and food. The chicks are baby "broilers" -- chickens raised for meat that are bred for rapid growth so they can be slaughtered at six to eight weeks of age The birds are now approximately 8 weeks old – and because they have been engineered to grow abnormally large and fast, they will continue to grow rapidly and many will suffer health problems as a result of their abnormal size. One of the most common problems with "broilers" is heat stress, heart attacks, and joint and leg problems. The birds are now able to cool themselves in the sanctuary misters, and are receiving calcium and glucosamine to help reduce crippling leg problems. Sadly, their lifespan averages less than two years, but we will continue to do everything possible to give them many happy sanctuary days.

From Pony Express to Chicken Express
The practice of sending chicks through the United States Postal Service (USPS) began over 100 years ago, when the first commercial hatchery in America sent 50 chicks from New Jersey to Illinois in 1892. Since this time, the USPS has retained statutes dictating the terms of shipment of live animals, including newborn and adult fowl, lizards, earthworms, snails, leeches, scorpions and even honey bees. Warm-blooded animals, other than birds, may not be shipped through the USPS. According to USPS regulations, it is legal to ship young birds through the mail, as long as they are under 24 hours old when presented for shipping, and delivered to the receiver within 72 hours.

The USPS found out that there was a huge market for shipping chicks, and initiated efforts to require other couriers to engage in this practice. USPS has all but forced Fed Ex and some airlines to transport chicks whether they want to or not. USPS is a powerful federal entity, and states have no jurisdiction in the matter because federal law permits shipment of live animals.

In 2006, Senator Charles E. Grassley (R-IA) Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, introduced SB. 2395. Passed into law by Congress, the bill mandates that any air carrier that has a contract to ship mail must carry poultry as mail unless it commonly and regularly refuses to carry ANY animals as cargo. FedEx and some commercial airlines attempted to avoid the practice of transporting young chicks, but the USPS, with the strong support of bird shippers that transport birds by mail, forced FedEx and airlines to comply. When Delta Airlines unilaterally announced to the USPS that it would no longer take transfers of poultry, they were quickly corrected and forced to resume transport by the USPS who maintained that "If the air carrier has a mail contract, this provision guarantees delivery of all mail including live poultry".

In the past, airlines have notified the USPS that they will not carry poultry when the temperature reaches 85 degrees Fahrenheit (F). Live animal shipping advocates counter that 85 degree F is an appropriate temperature level to ship day-old chicks by asserting that the chicks are hatched in 95 to 100 degrees F and should be kept at 95-100 degree F for up to one week of age. Again siding with the well organized nationwide network of bird shippers that transport birds by mail, USPS mandated that air carriers shall and will accept and carry chicks as air mail when the outside temperature is between 0 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit from point of origin through the point of destination.

The United States Animal Welfare act has set humane standards for animals transported in commerce. It clearly states that while in transport; proper handling, housing, feeding, watering, sanitation, ventilation, shelter from extremes of weather and temperatures, adequate veterinary care, and separation by species is required at all times. The cargo hull of a plane is hardly shelter from "extreme weather and temperatures". The United States Postal Service is not a humane agency, and it should not have the authority to determine what constitutes "humane treatment" for animals. The Oakland case is not the first. There are numerous documented incidents of mailed animals arriving in such poor condition that up to half the shipment is dead. Yet, to our knowledge, the USPS has not been held accountable to ANY acts of gross animal cruelty and neglect. The practice of shipping poultry is alive and well – sadly, the same cannot be said about the tiny chicks that endure this grueling process every day -- in rain, sleet, or shine.

Farmed Animals Need YOU

Please write to the Postmaster General of the United States Postal Service, to encourage the agency to stop the cruel and inhumane practice of "mailing" live animals. Send letters to:
The Honorable John E. Potter
Postmaster General & CEO
U.S. Postal Service
475 L'Enfant Plaza SW
Washington, DC 20260-1000
Fax: (202) 268-5211

Safe at last, at Animal Acres

Adopt (and name!) one of our new feathered friends. We need sponsorship support to help us feed and house the chicks – and let's face it, we could use some help naming almost 200 baby boy and girl birds, too! Please call us to adopt a chick today, or adopt online. Please write the name(s) of your adopted chicken(s) in the NOTES section of the secure online Adopt-a-Farmed Animal donation page. Thank YOU.

Enjoying a cool sip of water after a long journey.	Eating (and standing in!) the food....yum!