S. Korea To Slaughter Dogs & Cats Over Bird Flu Concerns

S. Korea To Slaughter Dogs & Cats Over Bird Flu Concerns

According to an article in the Malaysian Star,  South Korea plans to kill cats and dogs to try to prevent the spread of bird flu after an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 virus at a chicken farm last week, officials said Monday.

Animal health experts, however, suggested it was “a bit of an extreme measure” when there was no scientific evidence to suggest that cats or dogs could pass the virus to humans.

However, it would not be the first time for South Korea to kill cats and dogs due bird flu concerns. An official at the Agriculture Ministry said South Korea slaughtered cats and dogs along with 5.3 million birds during the last outbreak of bird flu in 2003.

The official declined to be named, saying he was not authorized to talk to media.

'Highly unusual'
Dogs specially bred for eating are slaughtered for consumption in South Korea, where many people enjoy dog meat as a delicacy.

Another ministry official, Kim Chang-sup, insisted killing cats and dogs to curtail the spread of bird flu was not unusual.

“Other countries do it. They just don’t talk about it,” Kim said, adding that all mammals are potentially subject to the virus. He declined further comment.

But animal experts disputed the validity of killing cats and dogs.

“It’s highly unusual, and it’s not a science-based decision,” said Peter Roeder, a Rome-based animal health expert with the U.N.’s Food and Agricultural Organization or FAO, who published research about cats and bird flu earlier this year in the journal Nature. “We’ve got absolutely no reason to believe they’re important,” he told The Associated Press.

Read the rest of the article HERE.

Comments

[Caveat]

The humans are starting to panic now, it's an inevitable result of overpopulation by at least a factor of two which puts immense pressure on resources aka the natural environment.

Dogs and cats are competitors for protein, the most valuable type of food. As the population rate spirals out of control, the competition must be eliminated. It is a matter of survival.

Raising animals cheek by jowl under unsanitary and inhumane conditions is a factor in the development of disease.

We are hardly blameless here in North America in terms of inhumane farming methods. Our overprescription of drugs and hormones also contribute to the creation of an ecological niche, hence the resistant 'super bugs' we have created. Pesticides and herbicides also contribute to the evolution of more invincible life forms. I always say, if you don't want pests, don't use pesticides. Similarly, if you don't want c. diff, mrsa and the rest, don't use antibiotics except as a last resort.

Here in the West, our method of eliminating the competition is more subtle, but no less repulsive than that of the East.

[selwyn marock]

It is terrible,but in Dade County Florida,USA, they MURDER dogs and cats just for fun.Ask Cindy Blank one of the Nazi County Commissioners or Sean Gallagher Chief Executioner from Dade County Animal Control.
USA should beware of Superior Morality.

[GoodPooch.com]

As Eliza pointed out, 'the black death' spread to such extremes primarily because of human ignorance i.e. the killing of cats that would have, otherwise, probably kept the disease in check.

BECAUSE humans killed most of the cats out of hysteria, they actually exacerbated the problem; leading to millions of needless deaths.

If history has taught us one thing, it's that we can't predict all the ramifications of our actions. (For example, cities that enact breed bans often report an INCREASE in dog bites, rather than a reduction.) As such, I wonder if/how the lack of dogs and cats will help to spread the bird flu?

It is always best to proceed with caution and reason, than to act rashly, and suffer a worse consequence that couldn't have been anticipated.

[Eliza]

Well,
During the plague they killed the cats (who would have eaten the rats who carried the fleas...)
We have not learned yet.
Editor's Note: - It is doubtful that dogs & cats in S. Korea eat farmed birds.

[Katrina]

Where's the logic?
Why is it always so easy to point the finger at the cats and dogs rather than the "people" that do not follow sanitary procedure.
UGH!!!!!!