12,000 chicks found abandoned in postal truck raise concerns about animal shipping

Caption

Chicks mill around a stall at the First State Animal Center and SPCA on Friday in Camden, Del. They are among 12,000 chicks that were left abandoned in a U.S. Postal Service truck for three days. / AP

A Delaware animal shelter is working to find new homes for thousands of chicks that were left abandoned in a U.S. Postal Service truck for three days.

Delaware's Department of Agriculture said it received a call earlier this month from USPS saying the Postal Service had an "undeliverable box of baby birds." About 12,000 chicks had been shipped from the Pennsylvania-based Freedom Ranger Hatchery to farms across the country.

State agricultural officials say that when they found the chicks at a USPS distribution center in Delaware, around 4,000 were dead.

The more than 8,000 that survived were taken to the First State Animal Center and SPCA in Camden, Del., and were put up for adoption on May 13, the shelter said in a social media post.

In the same post, the shelter says that the chicks were left without food, water or temperature control.

The shelter did not respond to NPR's emails or phone calls, but the Associated Press reports that only a few hundred chicks have been adopted.

Freedom Ranger Hatchery says it hasn't gotten clear answers from USPS about the situation.

USPS says it's working to "prevent such incidents in the future"

In a statement, USPS said, "We are aware that there are unfortunate rare instances where loss of life occurs with this type of shipment." It added that it is working directly with the hatcheries, carriers involved and delivery operations experts to prevent such incidents in the future.

Freedom Ranger Hatchery told the AP it cannot take the chicks back due to biosecurity concerns. In an email to NPR, the hatchery said that this was a routine shipment that never reached its destination due to a USPS error.

"This loss has compounding effects with the many small family farms across America that were counting on these birds," the hatchery said.

Boxes of live poultry must be "properly ventilated, of proper construction and strength to bear safe transport in the mail," according to USPS' website. USPS guidelines require that hatcheries ensure that all packaging requirements are met so that poultry can be delivered within 72 hours of hatching.

Although USPS has been shipping live animals for over 100 years, some animal rights groups like PETA say it's not safe enough for them to travel by mail. In a statement in 2020, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said chicks are vulnerable "when they're sent through the mail on long, terrifying journeys without food or water."