It should have made headlines when recently, 12,000 lives were placed on the line because a shipment of day-old chicks, turkeys, geese and quail was abandoned in a stifling U.S. Postal Service (USPS) truck. Trapped for days with no food or water, thousands of these vulnerable chicks perished before being discovered. The post office had deemed the shipment “undeliverable.”

The question we should all be asking: Why in the world are living animals being shipped through the mail?

It may come as a surprise to learn that USPS ships fragile, days-old chicks and other animals right alongside the junk mail. Anyone who has received a mangled package or a torn-open letter can imagine the risks that the post office is exposing these animals to.

Even when agency staff are not characterizing tens of thousands of dying birds as undeliverable, the USPS treats animals like merchandise. Regulations state that adult birds must be “able to sustain shipment without food or water.” For baby alligators, frogs, lizards, fish and other cold-blooded species, the agency states that they must “not require any food, water, or attention during transport.”

Chickens are far more complex than we give them credit for, with social lives as engaged and active as our own. Anyone lucky enough to spend time among flocks revels in their interactions. There are loud birds, shy birds, pushy birds, comical birds. They gossip and hunt for snacks in the grass, squabble and make up, take dust baths and snuggle under each other’s wings.

The doomed chicks in the recent case were being shipped by a Pennsylvania-based hatchery to farms across the country. If you eat chicken or eggs, you play a part in the cruel and deadly cycle. Mailed chicks are destined to be used as egg-producing machines. Male chicks are considered useless and are ground up alive.

But anyone who decides to build a backyard chicken pen, has a school classroom-hatching project or buys a novelty pet (think Easter) is also responsible for the carnage. Doing business with hatcheries or their intermediaries like feed and farm supply stores encourages them to continue to breed and hurt chickens. Every shipment puts living beings at risk.

The recent surge in egg prices due to bird flu set off a flurry of interest in backyard coops. But even if you’re considering adopting a chicken in need instead of purchasing one, it’s only kind if you have the means, knowledge and patience to provide proper care. In urban settings, the noise and chaos can be too stressful for a chicken to thrive. Many veterinarians have no specialized training in these complex birds. It’s just not a great idea.

As long as the post office serves as an intermediary for businesses that breed and sell animals for profit, this deadly cycle will continue. Not only should the agency end this practice, caring consumers must also do their part by refusing to buy chicken or eggs.

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Jennifer O’Connor is a senior writer for the PETA Foundation, 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; www.PETA.org.

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