Witness of a pig barn fire

On Friday while driving on the A2 in the Netherlands, an EonA inspector got stuck in major traffic. The highway was closed due to a massive fire that broke out on a pig factory located right beside the highway. Due to asbestos being released in the air, no one was allowed to get close. The following day Eyes on Animals visited the premise. We heard that 1300 sows, piglets and fattening pigs died. We received different information regarding whether some animals survived it, and what measures were taken for their welfare (some say all died, others say that some survived and are awaiting inspection by the veterinarian).
Unfortunately only new barns are required to respect the new fire-safety codes that the secretary of state has promoted, many older ones continue to burn up in flames. The rate of pig and chicken barn fires in the Netherlands has drastically increased in the last few years, the cause often “unknown”. Animals that survive fires are the biggest victims; suffering from breathing problems, excruciating painful burns and lung failure. They often have to wait for hours, sometimes even days until their suffering is put to an end. There is inadequate amount of euthanisia injections for such a number of animals to kill all at once, there are not enough veterinarians readily available to come quickly, and often the coordination between the veterinarians and fire brigade is poor. Veterinarians are also not allowed to get close to the animals for fear of the building further collapsing in or due to the leaking of poisonous gases. Surviving pigs are often even loaded onto trucks and brought to a slaughterhouse, if their “meat” is still considered suitable!
Eyes on Animals will stay on top of this story. We will make these photos available for campaign organizations and officials that are working on better-coordinated rescue action during barn fires, in the hope to further increase awareness and motivation to find a solution. Animals should be protected by the same level of fire-safety codes as humans. It is a disgrace that animals in such numbers can be cooped up in locked buildings, with no emergency exit and completely insufficient fire prevention codes.