Tuesday's NBA Play-in Tournament game between the Los Angeles Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves had an unusual situation occur that made rounds on social media.
The Timberwolves were taking free throws with 3:34 remaining in the second quarter when played stopped, as someone on the other end of the court was seen apparently trying to glue herself to the floor, according to media reports.
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The Timberwolves said in a release on Twitter they had been "in touch with Target Center Security to address the incident."
TNT sideline reporter Allie LaForce later reported that the woman was protesting Timberwolves majority owner Glen Taylor for an incident involving chickens at an egg farm he owns.
An animal rights activist on Twitter, Alicia Santurio, claimed to be the woman on the court. The group Direct Action Everywhere also named Santurio, who appeared to be wearing a shirt that read "Glen Taylor Roasts Animals Alive."
Direct Action Everywhere issued a press release on the matter, criticizing the method used to kill chickens at a Taylor-owned Rembrandt Enterprises facility in Iowa amid an avian influenza outbreak that has been sweeping the country.
The local Storm Lake Times Pilot reported that more than 5.3 million chickens were killed there after avian flu struck the facility. The U.S. Department of Agriculture lists the Buena Vista County flock as the largest infected with the flu in the country so far this year.
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The group said the method used for the chickens was “ventilation shutdown plus” (VSD+), which PETA has described as shutting off ventilation and using factors such as heat, humidity and carbon dioxide. PETA said in a blog post on April 8, citing 22 million chickens killed during the current outbreak, that "the best form of disease control on farms and at other facilities ... is for them to stop raising and killing animals for food."
Farms needing to kill so many birds where the flu is found often turn to recommendations by the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Associated Press reports. The association says its methods “may not guarantee that the deaths the animals face are painless and distress free.” Veterinarians and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials also usually oversee the process.
It appears this wasn't the first time an avian influenza outbreak occurred at a Taylor-owned farm. There was a similar situation in 2015, which was confirmed by Rembrandt Foods and the Iowa Department of Agriculture.
