Animal Carcass Disposal

Response to natural disasters is often hindered by lack of resources. These resources can include finances required to properly clean and contain the effects, as well as the actual people needed to perform those tasks. Determining the impact of a disaster on the environment requires individuals involved to possess, or be trained in, the necessary skills to collect appropriate samples and run associated tests. This could pose a challenge during a time when community and political leaders feel resources could be better spent elsewhere. Animal carcass disposal can be challenging, even when dealing with an individual animal production operation. Natural disasters can make the task even more difficult, by potentially physically moving the bodies of deceased animals away from their site of residence. This was observed in hurricane Floyd, with somewhere between 30,000 and 100,000 dead pigs, as well as chickens and turkeys, floating on top of the flood waters toward the Pamlico River [23]. Proper carcass disposal should be practiced in an efficient manner, which is difficult to attempt with such massive numbers of animals being swept away by flood waters. During the time before animals are properly disposed of there is risk of the environment becoming contaminated with any pathogens or other substances the animals may be carrying. The biggest

When possible, animal production facility owners should attempt to relocate animals prior to severe adverse weather. If animals will be remaining on site, steps for supplying adequate food and water should be addressed, as well as maintain adequate ventilation for animals housed indoors. If relocation is not possible, and the threat to animal safety is immense, it may be advisable to depopulate the animals on site to prevent unpleasant deaths, like