LOS ANGELES county CA under bird quarantine :(

[Animalfisherwoman]

Girl we’ve already been through that whole discussion about 75 posts back in the thread.
Also about 20 posts back is a link by @Animalfisherwoman to an interview with the CDFA pio dispelling that “cockfighting” rumor.
We are changing our vernacular from “cockfighting rings” to “properties/locations that contain a significantly large amount of chickens, that have inadequate containment of birds, insufficient biosecurity and movement of birds/people in and out of said premises.”

No no, cockfighting is absolutely a factor--and whatever a PIO says, the CDFA/USDA research both confirms that conditions conducive to that--flocks >20, roosters>50 percent, gamebird presence--were substantial risk factors in 2003 and the present. Such operations do invite more oversight to ensure they are not contributing to that practice.

 

[BreanneRN]

California is labeling backyard chickens either as "backyard exhibition chickens" or "non-commercial backyard egglaying chickens."

The latter makes up over 90 percent of California's cases. There are six among the egglayers.

Yes, California, where we must be politically correct. Let it never be said that people involving themselves in illegal activities are being targeted... Afterall, innocent until proven guilty. But, that doesn't mean we don't know truth when the evidence is clearly presented.

 

[Willowspirit]

Yes, California, where we must be politically correct. Let it never be said that people involving themselves in illegal activities are being targeted... Afterall, innocent until proven guilty. But, that doesn't mean we don't know truth when the evidence is clearly presented.

Or maybe that is an accurate way to describe the chicken populations. With your attitude I'd hate to be a patient under your care.

 

[micstrachan]

I’m going to be interested in if Aphis’ numbers are higher this week based on their new hires/activity.
Going to Brentwood this weekend and planning my bio security.
Gotta make it part of everyday life.

Kathy, I was in Brentwood myself today for Mother’s Day! By any chance did you have brunch at Brentwood Golf???

 

[Kathy Golla]

Hey Michelle,
So funny, no I went Upick cherry picking yesterday! Went to Tractor Supply too.
My idea of a good time for Mother’s Day weekend!
Small world!
Happy Mothers Day!

 

[Animalfisherwoman]

Updates on the SOB page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/348877789075792/:

Two days ago, a Mira Loma resident posted that she had a kill date at 1:30 p.m. yesterday. Kerri and others said they would be there for community support. That night, the resident was contacted by a CDFA agent threatening her with a warrant (and thus the legal power to cut locks) because she had told FB. The agent and her superior agreed to keep the kill date.

Yesterday rolls around. People start showing up about 10 a.m.--not to impede the workers but to observe. A candidate for the Riverside County Board of Supervisors acts as a social welcoming committee. A neighbor brings over a bag of water. Someone goes to Costco and gets some chips. The lawn chairs come out on the side of the road for the elderly,the mothers with babies. Everyone going by slows, has a conversation. Half of them end up joining the protest. A shower passes by overhead. Out come their umbrellas. By noon, minivans and small SUVs line both sides of a two lane road for two blocks, next to people with iPhones, Facebooking live. One of the videos will be on ABC7 Southern California that evening.

And they wait.

A white truck drives by with a PA system. They're killing her chickens right now up the road, she says. Five or so carloads head over. The workers have already put the birds in the garbage can and are gassing them. One has a 4" rip in his hazmat suit. As they exit, they put up caution tape to delineate their walkway. No one touches it. One boy, age about 10, calls out that it's the walk of shame. In the background is the white truck's PA system: "Stop killing our chickens. Stop killing our chickens."

There's a supervisor there. He sprays down their tires as the workers doff their hazmat suits. One of the workers comes over and hugs the homeowner. She is crying. Kerri asks if they are going to the original house next. The owner has taken off of work to be home so that CDFA does not cut her locks and expose her to burglary, or come by when her kids are there. Kerri doesn't get an answer from him, so she called the original agent. No answer. No one shows up.

The posts come in: Another Mira Loma resident; Here's my birds enjoying their last breakfast today. Hello, I live in the city of Riverside, my kill order is Wednesday. The SOB site expands from 1,500 people to almost 2,300 in four days.

They know that the most they can legally do at that point is show up and Facebook Live. It is not inconsequential. No live poultry is stepped on, no airguns aimed toward horses. In the presence of even 20 people, CDFA exercises more compliance to its own rules than has been seen so far. CDFA doesn't like the iPhones, but that's people's First Amendment right, and no government agency can be retaliating by misusing the warrant process to threaten people for utilizing their phone or telling friends.

How we got here is inexcusable, and it should not happen again.

 

[Kathy Golla]

Wow what a rundown.
Everything seems arbitrary.
That poor woman who now has to wait.

 

[BreanneRN]

There is now a video on the Save Our Birds site of how they dispose of the murdered chickens after they leave the backyard... Off to some landfill, where they are not immediately buried, but dumped and left to be picked at by flocks of seagulls and rodents... Still, having witnesses at the home sites has at least stopped the air rifles, jumping on the birds and mangling them, which is what Kerri experienced, so it has made a difference.

 

[Animalfisherwoman]

Kerri and the RivCo supervisors candidate are live in front of the next kill house. CDFA/USDA is on site. So is Channel 4 Southern California.

This is being livestreamed now (10:09 am), which along with the archives can be viewed here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/348877789075792/

ETA: USDA showed up. They canceled their kill appointment. If the reasons for the kills are valid, it should not matter if Channel 4 or FB Live is there.

ABC7 Rob McMillan has shared this video of when the CDFA/USDA left:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=361771034452623

 

[Animalfisherwoman]

Channel 4 News clip:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2376159455767968