Tag: Media – Farmed animals

Vancouver Island’s health authority is warning the public after an avian flu outbreak at a petting farm resulted in the euthanasia of 50 animals and possible human exposure.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been killing animals around the world, and British Columbia is a major hub for the disease. More than half of birds killed due to the virus spread over the past few years – 6 million of 11 million – have been in B.C.

The disease has also been seen in mammals, including wild mammals, marine mammals, cows, and pigs. There have been 44 reported human cases in the U.S. and one in Canada. “So far, the people who are contracting the disease have gotten it from cows or chickens.”

The spread and mutation of avian flu is accelerated by commercial poultry farms, where birds such as chickens and turkeys are often raised in crowded, stressful conditions. Earlier this year, an article by Eleanor Boyle discussed the avian flu outbreak and the need to transition away from industrial animal agriculture to address disease spread.

Ends November 8: Share your top 3 welfare concerns for chickens & turkeys

The National Farm Animal Care Council’s (NFACC) Chicken and Turkey Code of Practice, which serves as a guideline for on-farm care and handling of birds raised for meat, is coming up for review. The current code allows for many inhumane practices that compromise the welfare of chickens and turkeys in the poultry industry, such as overcrowding and painful procedures.

By taking the quick survey, you can help determine the top priorities for the code review and speak up for hundreds of millions of individual animals.

In this piece published in Canada’s National Observer, Eleanor Boyle discusses the avian flu outbreak and the steps needed to truly address it.

Boyle notes that more than 94% of cases where bird flu viruses mutated from low-pathogenic to high-pathogenic over the past 55 years have been in commercial poultry.

“Experts suggest commercial poultry, especially factory-farmed and crowded in barns, is one culprit behind the disease’s rapid spread. But one response by the Canadian government is to compensate farmers — paying the industry millions for bird slaughters — without requiring improved biosecurity against potential pathogens.”

British Columbia is being hit particularly hard by the outbreak. The density of poultry farms in B.C. makes the province a hub for avian flu in Canada, leading to a disproportionate number of bird culls on B.C. farms.

“Avian flu is yet more evidence for moving toward smaller-scale agriculture that’s also more plant-based,” Boyle says.