CAMDEN, DE- The First State Animal Center and SPCA is caring for thousands of birds after a nationwide shipment was mistakenly rerouted to a Sussex County post office, where many were found dead following days without food, water, or ventilation.
The First State Animal Center and SPCA said it received between 10,000 and 12,000 birds on Friday, May 2, after being alerted by the Delaware Department of Agriculture.
The Department of Agriculture had been contacted by a Sussex County post office, where the birds had been stranded following shipping delays and repeated rejections from distribution centers across the country.
The birds, which came from a hatchery in Pennsylvania, were intended for delivery to several states, including Texas, Ohio, Florida and more.
Instead, the entire shipment was mistakenly sent to Delaware and left in a hot environment without food or water for more than three days.
Jennifer Wright, with the First State Animal Center and SPCA, said the scene was overwhelming when the birds arrived in a USPS tractor trailer around 2:55 p.m. Friday.
“Upon arrival, we had to kind of, you know, decipher between who was still alive and who was not. Unfortunately, there was a very large number of deceased birds.”
The birds were packed into roughly 300 cardboard boxes, with species including quail, ducks, geese and more.
Wright said the number of birds they received was far beyond what anyone had anticipated.
“We were all floored. We expected maybe 250, 300 birds — not 250 crates. This is unlike anything I think a lot of us have ever seen.”
According to the Department of Agriculture, around 8,100 birds were still alive by Friday night.
Despite the shelter’s nonstop efforts, approximately 2,000 more died over the weekend.
John Parana, director of the First State Animal Center and SPCA, said his team has been working around the clock since the trailer arrived to try to save as many birds as possible.
“Our job is to take care of these animals when they get here. And that’s what we’re doing. As of this morning, we have the majority of these birds looking to be in really good condition, because of the efforts of the team.”
The Delaware Department of Agriculture is currently investigating how the shipping mishap occurred and why the birds were ultimately routed to Delaware.
In the meantime, the First State Animal Center and SPCA says it will continue caring for the surviving birds until they are healthy enough to be adopted.