January 19, 2005 – Avian Flu Horror Stories

 

Parliamentary committee hears horror stories of inhumane avian flu cull
Farmers tell of chickens beaten to death, thousands of ducks suffering repeated gassing.

 

(Vancouver) Members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture yesterday heard horrific evidence of animal suffering caused by the culling methods used during BC’s avian flu outbreak, reports the Vancouver Humane Society.

 

Farmers, appearing before the committee in Abbotsford, described how the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) used faulty and inappropriate culling methods, including:

• A failed attempt to kill a barn full of chickens with C02 gas, which left 60 per cent of the birds alive. The surviving birds were then “clobbered with sticks.”
• Up to 100,000 ducks suffering a slow death by being gassed with CO2 three to four times before they died.

Other witnesses, including backyard farmers and pet owners, told of several incidents, including:

• CFIA officials shooting peacocks with shotguns, leaving some wounded.
• Specialty pigeons being destroyed, despite the fact they cannot transmit avian flu.
• Lethal injections failing to kill an emu on the first attempt and being repeated.

 

“These are appalling examples of animal suffering,” said Peter Fricker, projects and communications director of the Vancouver Humane Society (VHS). “The committee must call the CFIA to account for its actions.”

 

VHS has submitted a report to the committee, detailing its concerns over animal welfare during the cull. The report, A gentle and easy death?, which highlighted concerns over the method of slaughter used (CO2), the lack of animal welfare oversight and requested that the CFIA videotape each “depopulation” is available at www.vancouverhumanesociety.bc.ca/AvianFlu.pdf. At the time the report was written, the VHS was unaware of the incidents mentioned above.

 

The hearings continue today in Abbotsford at the Ramada Inn on North Parallel Road.