The “worker found the shipment of baby chickens in an Alliance (Ground International) Cargo warehouse that had arrived that day on a Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul” during a routine patrol, explained Greg Chin, a spokesman for the Miami, from. – Dade Aviation Department.
The chicks were on a Delta flight, which landed at Miami International Airport at 1:16 p.m. ET Tuesday, according to flight data. The birds were discovered four hours later, Chin said.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services was informed Tuesday afternoon that the “birds had died from extreme heat while awaiting transport to the Bahamas,” spokesman Erin Moffet said. “The remaining live chicks have reached their final destination,” Moffet said.
Farm representatives in the Bahamas told WPLG of the 5,200 chicks that were initially in the shipment, only about 1,300 made it to them alive. The staff at Abaco Big Bird Family Farm said they were shocked by what has happened and have never seen anything like it in the 27 years they have been in business.
Employees of Eulen America, an airport emergency services company, are “responsible for loading and unloading cargo on the plane,” but the transportation and delivery “are done by another company,” spokesperson Marla Gomez told DailyExpertNews in a statement.
“We can understand and empathize with the concern about the situation,” Gomez said. The company did not comment further, citing an investigation.
Florida’s Department of Agriculture said that “any investigation into the incident would be conducted by law enforcement.”
DailyExpertNews has made multiple attempts to reach Delta, Alliance Ground and the Abaco Big Bird Family Farm for comment, but have heard nothing.