12,000 chicks have been discovered deserted in an USPS truck : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F9d%2F28%2Fc877f91f44cfaabf4d2e55613102%2Fap25139635772802.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F9d%2F28%2Fc877f91f44cfaabf4d2e55613102%2Fap25139635772802.jpg" class="img" alt="Chicks mill around a stall at the First State Animal Center and SPCA on Friday in Camden, Del." fetchpriority="high"/> Chicks mill round a stall on the First State Animal Heart and SPCA on Friday in Camden, Del. They're amongst 12,000 chicks that have been left deserted in a U.S. Postal Service truck for 3 days. Mingson Lau/AP cover caption

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Mingson Lau/AP A Delaware animal shelter is working to search out new houses for hundreds of chicks that have been left deserted in a U.S. Postal Service truck for 3 days.

Delaware's Division of Agriculture stated it obtained a name earlier this month from USPS saying the Postal Service had an "undeliverable field of child birds." About 12,000 chicks had been shipped from the Pennsylvania-based Freedom Ranger Hatchery to farms throughout the nation.

State agricultural officers say that once they discovered the chicks at a USPS distribution heart in Delaware, round 4,000 have been lifeless.

The greater than 8,000 that survived have been taken to the First State Animal Heart and SPCA in Camden, Del., and have been put up for adoption on Could 13, the shelter stated in a social media put up.

In the identical put up, the shelter says that the chicks have been left with out meals, water or temperature management.

The shelter didn't reply to NPR's emails or cellphone calls, however the Related Press experiences that just a few hundred chicks have been adopted.

Freedom Ranger Hatchery says it hasn't gotten clear solutions from USPS concerning the scenario.

USPS says it is working to "stop such incidents sooner or later" In a press release, USPS stated, "We're conscious that there are unlucky uncommon situations the place lack of life happens with one of these cargo." It added that it's working immediately with the hatcheries, carriers concerned and supply operations consultants to stop such incidents sooner or later.

Freedom Ranger Hatchery informed the AP it can not take the chicks again as a result of biosecurity issues. In an electronic mail to NPR, the hatchery stated that this was a routine cargo that by no means reached its vacation spot as a result of a USPS error.

"This loss has compounding results with the numerous small household farms throughout America that have been relying on these birds," the hatchery stated.

Bins of dwell poultry should be "correctly ventilated, of correct building and power to bear secure transport within the mail," in keeping with USPS' web site. USPS pointers require that hatcheries be sure that all packaging necessities are met in order that poultry will be delivered inside 72 hours of hatching.

Though USPS has been transport dwell animals for over 100 years, some animal rights teams like PETA say it isn't secure sufficient for them to journey by mail. In a press release in 2020, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk stated chicks are weak "once they're despatched by way of the mail on lengthy, terrifying journeys with out meals or water."