Charity decries bird cull cruelty

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3465125.stm

 

Last Updated: Friday, 6 February, 2004, 11:35 GMT

 

Charity decries bird cull cruelty

 

By Chris Hogg BBC correspondent in Hong Kong

 

An animal charity in Hong Kong is calling on governments across Asia to

adopt more humane measures of culling poultry affected by avian

influenza.

 

The Animals Asia Foundation saysive animal markets should be closed and

trade and consumption of wild

animals and cats and dogs should be banned.

 

More than 50 million birds have been culled across Asia in an attempt to

halt the spread of bird flu.

 

In many cases the birds are stuffed into bags alive and burnt or buried.

The Animals Asia Foundation says such slaughter methods are cruel and

unacceptable.

 

The most humane method of killing poultry on such a large scale is to

gas the birds with carbon dioxide, the group says.

 

This was how the authorities here in Hong Kong killed the entire stock

of poultry in 1997 after a bird flu outbreak.

 

But a lack of equipment and trained staff elsewhere in Asia means in

many areas they have to rely on more rudimentary methods of slaughter.

 

Government regulation

The foundation is also calling on governments to end the traditional

practice of selling poultry and other animals while they are still alive

in street markets.

 

It says these can be a breeding ground for bacteria and disease,

especially when wild animals are offered for sale.

 

Demand for meat in Asia is set to double by 2020.

 

Unless farming is regulated properly, the charity warns, the disease

outbreaks in this part of the world will continue.

 

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Dave Neale

Animals Asia Foundation

 

Find out more about the historic China Bear Rescue by visiting the

Animals Asia Foundation website at http://www.animalsasia.org