Groups call on AVMA to reject controversial euthanasia method

Nearly 3,000 veterinary professionals and advocates sent a petition this month to the AVMA urging the association to take a stance against a controversial method of depopulation.

The groups, led by the ASPCA and the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, say this form of depopulation, called ventilation shutdown, “has been used on untold numbers of farm animals as COVID-19 has caused slaughterhouse closures and disruptions.”

With nowhere to send their livestock, some producers had backups of animals on their operations, leaving them to turn to methods of euthanasia like ventilation shutdown. This method involves shutting off airways into barns and, in some cases, turning up the heat or adding gas, so that the animals inside die. Groups like the ASPCA say this is cruel. It’s been an ongoing issue during the pandemic.

“While AVMA suggests VSD is only appropriate as a last resort in certain circumstances, their silence on this matter during the pandemic has allowed for a tragic misapplication of their own depopulation guidelines,” the groups said in their announcement. “Reclassifying VSD in all its forms as ‘not recommended’ within the AVMA depopulation guidelines would clarify that this inhumane practice is not acceptable in any circumstance.”

They say that “any killing method that does not cause immediate loss of consciousness is widely considered inhumane and unacceptable.” The current AVMA Depopulation Guidelines cite a study demonstrating that pigs survived up to 16 hours after ventilation shutdown.

The petition for the AVMA to reclassify VSD in all its forms has been signed by more than 2,900 people, including 1,490 veterinarians and 827 AVMA members. They want the association to vote on the issue at its January 2021 meeting.