Hurricane Matthew's consequences for animals

[Catherine]

I have put off posting because there is so much information.  First let me say that the extreme storms are a related to climate change so we do have some responsibility for the consequences of them.

Animals have suffered because of this storm.

Factory Farms are death traps
http://news.google.ca/news/url?sr=1&ct2=...t=2&at=dt0

Waste material from factory farms will damage the environment and bring harm to wild animals.

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&ur...CorLU7FIMw



https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&ur...n73hfpjBNg

The alligator farm seems to have been the only ones who were prepared.
https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&ur...KDxkR_Y8Dw

I love the storks in the bathroom idea. They were safe.
https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&ur...GajIgI-_bg

I knew I had seen the picture somewhere.

Usually we talk about pets during a disaster. Sometimes we talk about wildlife.  This time the issue is factory farms. Clearly they were not built to protect the animals during a storm like this. I am sure there were no plans to evacuate the animals. After all, they are insured like other property.  We know these big farms are deadly during a fire. It seems they are deadly on a larger scale during a hurricane or any other flooding. They are deadly to the animals and the waste material is going to be deadly for some time to come.

[Tobi]

I hadn't seen or heard the news for many days now. I had no idea about hurricane Matthew!

Factory farms are such a basically terrible idea. Anything which is created against nature has a risk of having tremendous negative impact, not only on those poor animals but other situations too.
They are a pollution risk, which makes me wonder why they were ever designed. The only proper method of waste disposal on ANY farm, is the slurry system, and that has to be well organised well designed and well managed. I observe that system at work regularly on my neighbouring farm and talk to the people about how it is maintained.

Unfortuately the sheer size and waste capacity of these factory farms makes that system impossible to maintain. Making things too big makes things impossible to sustain. Then there is a pollution problem. And extreme weather conditions take it to a tipping-point. I find the whole thing quite horrific.

I feel for the poor animals also.

[Catherine]

A lot of animals were trapped in flooded buildings and died. It is a terrible  thing. It is yet another reason why the factory farms are a bad idea.

They have made no provision for environmental safety. The runoff from these farms has already caused trouble. Add a hurricane that floods out the waste ponds and there is a real mess. Clean-up could take years. The waste products of factory farms are full of bacteria. They also contain anything that is been fed to the animals and that includes antibiotics and hormones. A mix like that is loose in the environment. It will be years before the environment is cleaned up.