Daniel Eisenberg writes via email:
I used to do kaparot with a live chicken for years, part of my chassidic heritage though I am MO. I was never comfortable with the ritual but I thought that animals were created for us and as long as there was no outright cruelty then no problem. This changed…
… 3 years ago when I went to monsey for kaparot. The biggest one there is done by Vishnitz. Apparantly some kollel guy tried to do some business where he bought as many chickens as possible crammed in as tight a spot as possible. To save money of course. Anyway the vast majority of chickens died of asphixiation and heat stroke from not having water and too many chickens crammed together generated so much body heat they died. So what did the frum businessman do? He appologizes and then applies the laws of supply and demand and raises the prices. Here comes the kicker, the chickens were not going to be used for poor people to eat. They were going to be sold at market and money donated to poor people. Everyone could have prevented the mass tzar baalei chaim and just donated the money. Since then I use money. I don't know how someone can be harsh to an animal and proceed to ask God for compassion the next minute.