10/22/05 Appeal Concerning Bird Flu
Animal Friends wishes to address to the public the following appeal concerning bird flu
Given the fact that the bird flu has reached Croatia, Animal Friends wishes to address the citizens with an appeal to take increased care of their companion animals, such as parrots, canaries, and other birds. They should by no means be abandoned, since there is no risk involved for their owners or their families to get infected with the virus via their animal family members.
Since the known cases of human infection by the bird flu virus have been caused exclusively through contact with infected birds from the farms, there is no danger that the virus could reach people via companion animals, which live in isolated circumstances and have no contact with wild birds that might act as virus carriers.
VEGETARIANISM AGAINST BIRD FLU
Moreover, Animal Friends wishes to use this occasion to draw the attention to the fatal consequences of farm breeding of animals used for food, in which the deadly virus could spread to humans.
Greed for meat is related to a number of infectious diseases, in this case bird flu. Besides destroying natural resources and the environment and killing animals, eating meat presents great danger for humans.
Mass breeding of animals for food, as well as a diet rich in meat, are by itself unnecessary, terribly wasteful, and lethal for our environment and human health. The appearance of diseases such as mad cow disease and now bird flu increases the destruction of precious resources and environment pollution. It also causes unneccessary suffering of billions of animals, which are bred by man for his food and often die of some lethal virus or in futile attempts to curb the spread of the disease.
Although the virus of bird flu also exists in nature, with mass breeding it was given the chance to kill billions of animals, as well as mutate and be transferred to humans, presenting us with a threat of a pandemia.
Think about the needless exploitation of animals and our planet to the detriment of all its inhabitants, including man himself.
Choose nutrition without hormones, antibiotics, infections, tumors, and cholesterol. Avoid food that causes salmonellosis, trichinellosis, mad cow disease, and bird flu. Think of animals, people, environment, and your health.
