Single hen

[ribbons021185]

I'm certainly not getting too jumpy yet about bird flu and the uk, i just thought i would voice my opinion and feelings.

 

I feel incredibly sad for the animals involved in the mass culls in both asia and europe at the moment. The pictures on tv yesterday were quite distressing, seeing chickens and ducks being put into sacks and thrown onto trucks and then burning pyres whilst still alive. Or being buried alive. You could see them struggling in the sacks as this was happening. The injuries many must have sustained before death must have been quite horrific. I know the numbers being slaughtered are huge, and this seems like a fast way to get rid of them - but men were having to catch these birds in order to put them in sacks, and i think it would be far more humane to just wring their necks as they were caught in order for a fast and relatively painless death?

 

I'm no extreme animal rights campaigner, but this just seemed like suffering which could have been prevented.

 

Well, i feel a bit better now. Just had to get it off my chest.

[Guest]

I'm shocked! I haven't watched the news and it is totally unnecessary surely to burn/bury animals alive. I am horrified and distressed by this.

[Amythefoxslayer!]

That's disgusting, there must be more humane ways to kill animals. I'm really worried about Bird Flu now, and the media arn't helping. I read one article warning parents that "this is not the time for you children to get attatched to that little red hen in the garden" The journalist was probably just trying to be witty but it really upset me.I wish they would write truthfully about whether there is likely to be a crisis or not.

[ribbons021185]

I'm not too worried about human to human flu - it seems like only a vague possibility.

 

However with the obvious bird-to-bird virus, i am terrified about a BSE style problem developing, which would lead to the banning of free range poultry, and a mass cull of hundreds of thousands or more.

This would totally devastate free range farming, and destroy farmers lives the same way mad cow disease did. The worst thing is, it seems almost inevitable as bird flu creeps ever closer.

[Louise]

Bird Flu wouldn't turn into a BSE style problem for years it would be isolated and dealt with more like Foot and Mouth but not so widespread.

 

I agree with the comments about the way these birds are killed it is inhumane but the alternatives aren't much nicer. They could be gassed which is a pretty horrific way to go or their necks wrung which if you have ever tried to wring a birds neck is not easy even on a pigeon which has a small neck I don't know the answer but I would like to see something done. At least in the UK the welfare laws would mean they would have to be killed before disposal if it comes to that

[The Dogmother]

I agree Claire. Rosie (7) saw a similar article on the TV before I could stop her, and was devastated. Sh ehasn't yet connected it with our chooks and whether they will have to be culled (thank goodness). But I can see that there will be tears; hers and mine!

 

Why couldn't they use a 'dispatcher' to kill them more humanely?

[ribbons021185]

oups - i did mean foot and mouth...just had a bit of a brain-freeze.

Definately didnt mean bse at all.

[Cinnamon]

I too think that there have been some truly horrible images in the press over the last week, & while I don't condone how they are treating their animals, I think there are a couple of factors that have to be considered.

 

A lot of European countries have a vastly different approcah to us over how their livestock is treated, & take what we would see as cruelty as a normal way of life. Look at Bullfights as a good example of this.

Also, these are farm animals not pets which our birds are. They are trying to just get the job done as quickly as possible,& while we can all see it is terrible,you an only imagine the panic they must feel that these birds may be infected & the need to deal with it urgently.

 

Lastly, the press does have a tendancy to show the worse case senario every time.Especially OUR press!

Maybe things are not quite as grim as they look.

 

I for one certainly hope so

 

I thought long & hard before posting this & don't want to be seen as sympathising with this cruelty in any way,but I think it is important to look at the complete picture, not just what we have been shown on the TV

[ribbons021185]

I do agree Sarah, I'm not trying to say everybody treats their animals this way, or that they are not in a dire situation. I just felt like i had to get it off my chest xxx

[The Dogmother]

You've got a point there Sarah, and you put it nicely into perspective. My grandfather was italian and had the Eurpoean mentality towards livestock. I remember him sitting in the garden taking shots at songbirds for the pot! The had all their own meat in the war and he would upset granny by bringing in one of her bunnies for the pot, but it was that or nothing in those days!

[Cinnamon]

Clare, we went to Cephallona a couple of years ago, & were offered tiny little songbirds spit roasted for a meal.

I am afraid we politley declined, as you eat them all in one, & the children looked horrified!

Isn't it odd how what we view as horrible,others view as quite normal?

[Mel (& Paul)]

Mind you, us Brits are MEANT to be a nation of animal lovers - unless you hear about that *$*$*$$!!** (cant think of anything rude enough) woman who put her cat in the washing machine. deliberately. and pleaded not guilty to cruelty. She has three children - what hope do we have

[The Dogmother]

Good rant Mel, my thoughts exactly!

 

I used to hate him doing that to the birds, but he grew up hunting in Tuscany, and that was what he was used to!