Sanctuary Stories
The Chickens Saved From Coronavirus Culling
Many animals have headed to gas chambers after Covid-19 outbreak forced factory farming operations to close. These were the lucky ones.
When Shawn Camp saw a post making the rounds on Facebook, about a farmer in Iowa giving away chickens, she immediately gathered a team and sprang into action. Camp is the founder and executive director of Iowa Farm Sanctuary, one of a number of groups currently saving animals from farming operations shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Plummeting demand for meat due to shuttered restaurants, schools and hotels, and closures, or slowing of slaughterhouses due to workers falling ill, have left many farmers across North America with a surplus of animals. As a result, millions of animals are being brutally culled on farms. But thanks to the efforts of Iowa Farm Sanctuary, 39 little lives have now been spared.
After seeing the viral post about the hens, Camp reached out to the farmer, who agreed to release some of the animals. She then put out a call for dog and cat crates to help transport the rescued hens. Donated crates quickly came in, and by the next morning, Camp and her team were on the road, along with another group, Michigan-based…
