Families protest ban on backyard chickens
MALAYSIA - Amid strong local resistance, a ban on raising poultry in backyard pens went into effect Monday in Hong Kong, in an effort to prevent a bird flu outbreak.The government announced Friday that fines of around $6,000 to $12,000 would be levied on households that refused to surrender their chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons or quail.
Teams of officials from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department were to round up the offending poultry starting Monday.
Family farmers in outlying areas of Hong Kong traditionally have kept poultry in their backyards. Many complained that the government was destroying their way of life in removing the poultry, which they raise for their eggs and meat.
Some families said they would hide their birds, and others said they planned to free them, especially pigeons, before agriculture officials could catch them, the South China Morning Post reported.
Several wild birds and a few chickens have been found dead of the H5N1 virus in Hong Kong in recent weeks. No humans have contracted the disease, however.
Source: Malaysian Sun
13 February 2006
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