On April 10th, 2020, Delmarva poultry growers were given the order to begin depopulating their flock of chickens due to low staffing at the processing plants. Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. (DPI) and Allen Harim, LLC have both stated that depopulation of the chickens is their last resort.

However, we believe that there is another option, one that is most humane. Suffocating 2 million chickens due to a human resource and profitability issue is extremely inhumane. This order to depopulate was not given because of an avian flu pandemic, meaning these chickens are not even infected, they are completely  not at fault. We are urging DPI, Holly Porter (DPI Executive Director), Allen Harim LLC, and Key Lee (Allen Harim LLC President), as a measure of compassion and empathy, to hand over 10 chickens and spare their lives. There are sanctuaries already set in place and ready to take chickens in so that they can live out their lives safely. We hope that by saving 10 chickens, we can catapult that into rescuing more chickens, therefore sparing more lives. We believe that more sanctuaries will step forward to help give more birds a safe home. 

We are also urging Michael Scuse (Delaware Secretary of Agriculture), Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE Representative), John Carney (DE Governor), Peter Schwartzkopf (DE Speaker of the House), and Valerie Longhurst (DE Majority Leader) to act on this now and help save lives.

For questions related to this petition, please contact savedelmarvachickens@gmail.com