[Scpg] cluck or be clucked

[eric werbalowsky]

As an avid chicken hobbyist, I am more concerned about
the safety of riding my bike on ventura avenue than a
possible pandemic of this impending inevitable
transpecies mutations, but I could learn to crank up
the fear and anxiety with some more clockwork orange
style mainstream media dramatics...

anyway, even some rational people are freaking besides
the usual chicken littles -- so much so that chick
sales at island seed and feed are noticeably down this
spring after all the cluckking over the biological
reality of an avenging avian angel rising up to
protect her mistreated flock. hmmm, tastes like
tamiflu?

ew

ps. i only get eggs, beauty and companionship from my
gals, i leave the killing to the pros like the oil
companies and Von's and economically challenged U.S.
teenage soldiers

see article below

Go vegetarian to avoid bird flu, says rights group

Scared about getting bird flu? Then the only really
safe way to protect yourself is to go vegetarian, an
animal rights group said on Tuesday.

Headlining a new Chinese and English language Web site
(www.avianflu.cn) "Avian flu: it's your fault," the
Asia Pacific branch of People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (PETA) says it is drawing
attention to unsavory factory farming practices.

The cramming together of thousands of chickens in
buildings where the birds are never allowed outside
and live in their own filth was an ideal breeding
ground for disease, the group said in a statement.

"Avian flu is just one symptom of a very sick and
cruel industry," it quoted PETA Asia-Pacific director
Jason Baker as saying.

"With diseases running rampant in crowded, filthy
factory farms and the significant health risks posed
by the 'backyard'-type farms common in Asia, the
safest thing to do with chicken flesh is to avoid it
like the plague," he said.

Bird flu has killed about 100 people in Asia and the
Middle East since 2003, including 11 people in China,
and experts fear the virus could mutate and spread
easily from human to human.

They also say properly cooked poultry and eggs should
pose no danger, though they warn people to stay well
clear of birds which have died of sickness in case it
be avian influenza.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060328/hl_nm/birdflu_china_vegetarian_dc_1&printer=1;_ylt=AlgWr7f8mHuQ8wNcWKJXut4R.3QA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-