After a fire killed nearly 4,000 piglets in a North Carolina factory farm, the National Fire Protection Association should require similar facilities to have ceiling sprinklers, says the Humane Society of the United States.
Paul Shapiro, vice president of farm animal protection of The Humane Society of the United States issued the following statement: “As tragic as this calamity is, what’s perhaps even more disturbing is that it was easily preventable. The National Pork Producers Council has fought tooth-and-nail to block commonsense rules that would require factory farms to install sufficient fire suppression systems like sprinklers. More than 400,000 animals have already died in American factory farm fires this year, and the lives of hundreds of firefighters have been endangered. The National Fire Protection Association has the opportunity—starting at a meeting this Tuesday—to implement meaningful rules that would help prevent these disasters in the future.”
The Humane Society of the United States is the nation’s largest animal protection organization, rated most effective by our peers. For 60 years, we have celebrated the protection of all animals and confronted all forms of cruelty. We are the nation’s largest provider of hands-on services for animals, caring for more than 100,000 animals each year, and we prevent cruelty to millions more through our advocacy campaigns. Read more about our 60 years of transformational change for animals, and visit us online at humanesociety.org.
