Dead parrot cleared of all charges!

[damian_steele]

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/hea...icle327336.ece

Posthumously pardoned.

Pythons are said to be happy.



Still wondering just what the hell is going on at that quarantine center though. If they can get so many details wrong in the tracking and diagnosing of these birds, just what else is being screwed up?

Seems to me that there are a lot of questions need to be asked and answered. Not the least of which are what are they doing selling live birds so close to a quarantine center? How easily could they spread the virus?

[dragonmist]

The control group of chickens at Pegasus didn't catch Avian Flu from the infected finches proving the media hype was a load of drivel. Pegasus hadn't got a quarantine licence any more, so why was he allowed to import the birds anyway? A few years back protesters broke in and released the birds as they were apalled by the conditions. [I don't think it did the birds much good but there you go.] The RSPCA and RSPB were supposed to be monitering the premises anyway. Someone wasn't doing their job. Defra has finally admitted it might be harder for poultry to be infected by wild birds than they thought. We have still been advised to keep our free range poultry penned in with birdproof wire, and roofed with plastic, onduline or similar. The chances of a mucky duck flying over, and infecting my birds by pooping on them, is about as likely as me winning the Lottery or being hit by a meteor. If you make a permanent roofed structure you have to get planning permission. [Green Belt land.] Permission highly unlikely to be given, and it takes months.
2 samples of the Avian Flu virus went missing at Heathrow. They say there is no danger to the public at large. If that is true, why has there been so much scaremongering?

[damian_steele]

Just like a sample of Foot 'n' Mouth went missing (got reported on for one day and then received no follow up stories) just before the last outbreak.

[dragonmist]

We have been getting regular bulletins from DEFRA. They reckoned that a pen made of bales of straw covered with polytarp would do as a temporary measure. I don't think these fellows in the white overalls with their dinky clipboards live in the real world. I suppose we would have to light candles so they could see to eat.
DEFRA say it isn't feasible to vaccinate all the poultry here. China reckons it can vaccinate all their birds, running into billions. DEFRA prefer to slash and burn. The people who make the vaccine reckon over here it would cost 2 X 12 p shots each to make our birds safe.

[damian_steele]

I'd have thought they'd give bird owners the chance to purchase vaccination from a qualified vet. Or would that be too much like being helpful?

[dragonmist]

DEFRA don't do helpful. Their website says livestock are culled humanely by professionals with due care . That's why during F&M some idiot with a rifle was shooting sheep - badly - in front of the rest of the flock, and animals were left rotting in farmyards in full view of children. The army weren't much better. They drowned a ewe that survived being shot. These were healthy animals with no sign of infection.
If the order came out to cull the poultry in this area, I would do it myself. The birds aren't frightened of me, and I would make sure the end was as quick and painless as possible .......... except I would be breaking the law. My birds would have to be killed and removed by "experts", who would scare the birds witless. You couldn't make it up. They'd never catch my birds. They'd be off over the fence and across the field in no time. I couldn't cull my youngest pullet. I can't catch her. She spends most of her time up the top of the apple tree. She first tried this at 3 weeks old, and likes it up there. She can fly the length of a football field. If I can't catch her to clip the flight feathers, how would a stranger get within 100 yards of her? Shooting isn't an option. Pheasants survive shotgun damage after all.