Home > Press office > Press release: 06.04.06
 http://www.animalaid.org.uk/press/0604bflu.htm
     
Avian flu - Defra must resist hysteria-led bird massacre
With the arrival of the deadly strain of bird flu in Scotland, Animal
Aid fears an outbreak of panic that will lead to a
government-orchestrated slaughter of 'every winged creature'. The
national campaign group calls for the maximum consideration for animal
welfare to be applied to all measures designed to tackle the disease.

Within DEFRA Exclusion and Surveillance zones, says Animal Aid, it is
essential that the lives of ducks, geese, swans, pigeons and other
birds are not taken merely to demonstrate that the government is
'doing something'. The truly large-scale slaughter - if it comes -
will take place far away from the public gaze inside commercial
poultry sheds. The national organisation says that any killing
exercise must not repeat the incompetence and callousness seen during
the 2001 foot and mouth epidemic. Under routine circumstances, these
birds already suffer grievously as a result of being reared and killed
as though they were inanimate objects. It is therefore essential that
their suffering is not increased during any disease 'eradication'
exercise.

The best available evidence points to the H5N1 strain of avian flu
http://www.animalaid.org.uk/press/0602bflu2.htm
 being caused and spread by the intensive poultry industry. Yet the
global poultry industry has succeeded in diverting blame for the
disease outbreak onto wild birds.

Countries that have not yet developed a large-scale intensive poultry
industry have been largely spared. Despite poultry sheds being
nominally sealed off from the outside world, there are numerous ways
for diseased material to be taken into them. An expert in the field,
Dr Mohammad Yousaf*, has indicated that H5N1 can enter by way of
faecal traces or moisture in the air - through the medium of feed,
water, supplies, cages, clothes, delivery vehicles, mammals and even
insects. 

Says Animal Aid Director, Andrew Tyler:
'Broiler sheds are perfect breeding grounds for new and deadly viruses
and there are any number of ways that they can spread across countries
and continents. Cooked chicken might be purged of viruses but how safe
are the bodies of dead birds - fresh from supermarket chillers - that
reside in millions of fridges around the country? Animal Aid calls for
a boycott of all chicken products as a means of waking up the
government, the industry and the consumer to the vile and deadly
nature of intensive poultry production.'

*Avian influenza outbreak hits the industry again, Dr Mohammad Yousaf,
University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan, World Poultry, Vol 20
No 3 2004.*Avian influenza outbreak hits the industry again, Dr
Mohammad Yousaf, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan,
World Poultry, Vol 20 No 3 2004.
     
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Notes to Editors 

For more information, contact Andrew at 01732 364546 
See our report on the use of animals in toxicity testing, Lethal
Business 
ISDN line available for broadcast-quality interviews. 
    
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