Chicken slaughter due to Newcastle spread tops more than 1.1 million in Inland Empire
More than 1.1 million chickens have been euthanized at 10 egg farms in Riverside and San Bernardino counties since December in a fierce effort to eradicate the virulent Newcastle disease outbreak that started a year ago, state officials say.
Poultry owners in both Inland Empire counties are so outraged by the slaughter that they have started a Facebook page called Save Our Birds, posting videos and photos of California Department of Food and Agriculture workers clad in white biohazard suits showing up at homes in Perris and Jurupa Valley, among other places.
The videos capture workers pulling chickens from backyard coops, dumping them in trash cans and killing them with C02 gas pumped into the cans with a hose.
The main gripe is that chickens, pigeons and other species not tested positive for the deadly avian virus are being euthanized anyway, and that there should be a better way to corral and eradicate the virus without killing so many birds, which is traumatizing chicken owners who rely on the livestock for food or commercial purposes.
Read more: https://www.pe.com/2019/05/29/chicken-slaughter-due-to-newcastle-spread-tops-more-than-1-1-million-in-inland-empire
(Riverside Press Enterprise)/
