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1.
FIRST CASE OF H5N1 FLU IN U.K. COMMERCIAL POULTRY
The first documented case of the H5N1
avian flu in commercial poultry in England has occurred
at a facility operated by Bernard Matthews, Europe's
largest turkey producer. (Company employees were convicted
last autumn of assaulting live turkeys, see: http://tinyurl.com/296no8)
The outbreak wasn’t reported until two days
after chicks began to die from it. All 159,000 turkeys
on the premises were then killed and incinerated.
(http://tinyurl.com/25navy)
Fifteen workers were initially employed to catch the
birds “put them in plastic crates and on to
trucks which were sent to the factory to be gassed.”
The company offered bonuses to get it done quickly.
One worker explained: "We were working very,
very fast. We were getting the birds into the boxes
- bang, bang, bang as we were offered the bonus for
speed."
The company has acknowledged that it may be responsible
for the outbreak due to its importation of tons of
partially processed turkey meat from Hungary, where
an outbreak of H5N1 occurred last month. DNA analysis
has shown the flu strains to likely be identical.
Bernard Matthews is also being investigated for breaking
European Union hygiene regulations by leaving processed
poultry outside. The Times Online states: “The
multi-millionaire faces the possible collapse of his
poultry empire if alleged irregularities are proven.”
All bird-related events have been indefinitely
banned throughout England, Scotland and Wales. Outbreaks
of H5N1 in European domestic poultry have also occurred
in Denmark, France, Germany and Sweden. The virus
has been detected in wild birds in Europe in Austria,
the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain,
Sweden, and the U.K. Four people died in Turkey last
year from catching the H1N5 form of the virus from
their domestic poultry flock. Various countries have
begun banning British poultry. Additional details
at: http://tinyurl.com/34q5v3
BRITAIN CULLS 159,000 TURKEYS IN OUTBREAK
OF H5N1 BIRD FLU
Environment News Service, February 5, 2007
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2007/2007-02-05-01.asp
WORKERS TELL OF TURKEY CULL
EDP24, Jules Stevens, Feb. 6, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/3yqjnx
BERNARD MATTHEWS ADMITS 'POSSIBLE' HUNGARIAN
BIRD FLU LINK
Times Online, Philippe Naughton & Valerie Elliott,
Feb. 9, 2007
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1358254.ece
2.
LIFE FOR A U.K. TURKEY
The majority of the 22 million turkeys
produced for meat in the U.K. each year are intensively
raised. BBC News has an on-line article exzplaining
how the birds are raised, caught, slaughtered and
processed. It features an aerial layout of an intensive
confinement facility. The article notes: “Turkeys
can live up to 10 years in the wild. Indoor-farmed
turkeys are usually slaughtered between 12 and 21
weeks. Many free-range operations insist on a minimum
of about 20 weeks.” It mentions that health
problems result from genetic selection for rapid weigh
gain, and considers stocking density: “Industry
and government standards use a formula based on the
weight of the birds. They recommend a minimum floor
area per bird, in enclosed housing, of 0.026 square
metres per kilogram [0.3 sq. ft./2.2 lbs.] - a maximum
stocking density of 40kg per square metre” [88
lbs./10.8 sq. ft.].
In comparison, The Royal Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA)’s
newly revised Welfare Standards for Turkeys sets a
maximum stocking density of 25kg/sq. m. [55 lbs./10.8
sq. ft.]. The revised standards also prohibit beak
amputation of turkeys raised in “controlled
environment housing.” The degree of footpad
burn of each flock is also to be recorded.
HOW TURKEY FARMS WORK
BBC News, Feb. 6, 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/6333073.stm
RSPCA REVISES ITS TURKEY WELFARE STANDARDS
Poultry World, Jan. 29, 2007
http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2007/01/29/101245/rspca-revises-its-turkey-welfare-standards.html
3.
LUMLEY: SPARE A THOUGHT FOR TURKEYS
While a “frail” looking
Bernard Matthews laments "I've absolutely had my fill
of this" (http://tinyurl.com/yrgyj8
), Absolutely Fabulous star Joanna Lumley urges readers
to “spare a thought for…the 20 million
turkeys we rear for flesh each year in the U.K.,”
in a commentary published in The Independent. Writing
as a patron of the farmed animal welfare organization
Compassion in World Farming, Lumley asserts: “The
scientific finger is beginning to point to the proliferation
and intensity of poultry factory farms as a major
factor in the spread of H5N1 and other types of avian
flu,” later referring to these facilities as
“recipe for a disease disaster.” She points
out: “We know intensive poultry farming has
proliferated in south-east Asia and China. And it
is in this region that H5NI has taken hold. But not
in Laos, which provides an interesting case history.
In Laos, poultry farming is still mainly backyard
and free range. Only 13 per cent of the industry is
intensive. Yet 93 per cent of the H5N1 outbreaks in
Laos have been in these intensive farms.” Lumley
concludes: What is going on in our factory farms isn't
fair - we're not doing right by the animals…Isn't
it time to wean ourselves off cheap meat at any cost?…
Let's…buy only free-range or organic, where
the birds are given a decent life. Let's put windows
in those sheds, so we can no longer hide from the
grisly horrors they contain.”
An anonymous account of a week spent
undercover at the infected Bernard Matthews farm/processing
facilty was published by the Daily Record:
http://tinyurl.com/354bhw
JOANNA LUMLEY: SPARE A THOUGHT FOR ALL
THOSE TURKEYS
The Independent, Comment, Joanna Lumley, February
8, 2007
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article2248755.ece
4.
BIRD FLU BOOK AND VIDEO FREE ON-LINE
“Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own
Hatching,” a book by Dr. Michael Greger, director
of Public Health and Animal Agriculture for The Humane
Society of the U.S. (HSUS), is now available for free
on-line in its entirety at: http://www.BirdFluBook.org
A related four-minute video is also freely available
which offers “a concise overview of the relationship
between factory farming and bird flu.”
5.
SALMONELLA OUTBREAK IN SWEDEN, DESPITE CLAIMS
"Sweden has achieved efficient
control of Salmonella, despite the industrialisation
of animal production," the Swedish Poultry Meat
Association states on its website. The country claims
to have the lowest Salmonella infection rates of European
Union poultry flocks. (A European Commission study
last year found that among EU states Luxembourg and
Sweden had the lowest levels of Salmonella infection
rates in their poultry flocks.) These assertions were
shaken this week, however, when 100,000 chickens were
put to death in what is thought to be the country’s
largest Salmonella outbreak in poultry in a decade.
Birds at seven farms in Sweden tested positive for
the bacteria, leading to the intentional killing of
the chickens.
SWEDEN CULLS POULTRY DUE TO SALMONELLA
INFECTION
Food Production Daily, Ahmed ElAmin, Feb. 8, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/2s6udp
6.
N.M. COCKFIGHTING BAN ADVANCES; HSUS SUES AMAZON.COM
Following a five-hour debate, the New
Mexico Senate approved a ban on cockfighting by a
31-11 vote. The bill now goes to the House, where
it is considered to have an even better chance. Penalties
were weakened prior to the bill’s passage. Organizing
or participating in a cockfight would be illegal,
with a third offense required before it would be a
felony which then would be punishable by up to 18
months in prison. Observing a cockfight would not
be illegal. Governor Bill Richardson’s, a presidential
candidate, now supports a ban as do the state’s
three Roman Catholic bishops. It faces opposition
by some rural residents who are anxious that rodeos
and such practices as calf roping, branding and castration
could be targeted next. "You're just going to
drive it underground," said N.M. Sen. Phil Griego,
"You're going to criminalize 300 years of tradition."
At least 13 counties and 29 municipalities in New
Mexico already prohibit cockfighting, and Louisiana
is the only other state where it is legal. It also
continues to be popular in Puerto Rico, where it has
been legal since 1933: http://tinyurl.com/2sonl6
Following 19 months of discussion between
The Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) and Amazon.com,
HSUS has sued Amazon for selling two cockfighting
magazines and two videos depicting dogfights. The
magazines' publishers and distributors are also named
in the suit. In addition, the organization has also
asked the King County (Wa.) prosecutor to pursue civil
proceedings against the Seattle-based Internet retailer.
HSUS asserts that selling the magazines and videos
violates federal animal-cruelty laws. The company
has agreed to remove dogfighting videos, which it
originally said it would do last July. However, it
maintains that the cockfighting magazines are legal
and that refusing to sell them would constitute censorship.
HSUS counters that it is not going after free speech
but illegal conduct: shipping the items.
SENATE APPROVES COCKFIGHTING BAN AFTER
LENGTHY DEBATE
The Times-Picayune/Associated Press, Tim Korte, Feb.
7, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/2ryrmp
COCKFIGHTERS CONCEDE CHANCES OF AVOIDING BAN DIM
KATC/The Associated Press (Deborah Baker)
http://www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=6041766
AMAZON.COM KEEPING COCKFIGHT MAGAZINES DESPITE LAWSUIT
THREAT
The Associated Press, Curt Woodward, Feb. 7, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/3bdf6o
HUMANE SOCIETY SUES AMAZON.COM OVER COCKFIGHTING
MAGAZINES
The Seattle Times, Jonathan Martin, Feb. 8, 2007
http://tinyurl.com/2ormef
7.
WHOLE FOODS MAKING EXCEPTION TO LOBSTER BAN
Whole Foods will make an exception
to its ban on selling live lobsters when it opens
its first store in Maine next week. In June the natural-foods
retailer said it would stop selling live lobsters
and crabs since they could not be handled humanely
(see item #2: http://tinyurl.com/2ub3dd
). However, it says the Maine store is close enough
to lobster catching areas for its standards to be
met. Whole Foods is contracting with Little Bay Lobster
Co., of New Hampshire, for lobsters caught off of
Maine. The company will use individual holding compartments
to reduce stress. At the store, lobsters are to be
kept in private compartments rather than together
in a tank, and they will be electrocuted rather than
boiled alive (again, see 2nd item: http://tinyurl.com/2ub3dd
).
WHOLE FOODS SAYS ITS BAN ON LOBSTER SALES
WILL STAND -- EXCEPT IN MAINE
Boston Globe/Associated Press, February 7, 2007
http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2007/02/whole_foods_lob.html
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