Charity decries bird cull cruelty

By Chris Hogg BBC correspondent in Hong Kong

Chickens are thrown alive on a fire in a traditional hindu ceremony in Bali

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 says live 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.