‘The Writing Is on the Wall’—Bird Flu Outbreak Prompts Warning From PETA

For Immediate Release:
May 30, 2024

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

Following the news that a local egg factory farm will kill 4.2 million chickens due to a bird flu outbreak—the largest flock affected by the virus so far this year—PETA plans to place a sky-high warning near the plant reminding everyone that slaughterhouses and filthy, severely crowded sheds where chickens are confined in the egg industry are breeding grounds for a host of deadly pathogens that can easily mutate and spread to humans.

“Eating eggs, meat, and dairy from deplorable operations where millions of animals are confined amid their own waste not only is disgusting but also will unquestionably lead to another pandemic,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “The only solution is to go vegan, and PETA stands ready with free vegan starter kits to help everyone make the switch—before it’s too late.”

Outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza have been reported in 48 states, resulting in the systematic killing of nearly 100 million birds—typically by shutting off all airflow to the sheds in which the animals are kept, raising temperatures to levels at which they will die and slowly suffocating them. In Iowa alone, over 23 million birds have been killed since 2022 due to avian flu outbreaks. The virus has been detected in cows used for dairy in nine states and has been transmitted from both cows and birds to humans. PETA points out that the majority of diseases that have caused epidemics or pandemics in recent years originated in animals before being transmitted to humans, including AIDS, avian flu, swine flu, SARS, MERS, Ebola, Zika, and COVID-19.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat or abuse in any other way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.