SOB save our birds

[Trux]

What people here need to do is go back and read about the previous quarantines and how they were handled
In 1971, a major outbreak here infected 1,341 flocks, caused 12 million birds to be euthanized, cost $56 million to end, and seriously threatened the nation’s entire egg and poultry supply. It was 19 months from the first to the last case detected.
Thirty years later, an outbreak that was started by illegally imported game fowl started here and spread to commercial operators and to backyard poultry in Arizona, Nevada and Texas. Then-Gov. Gray Davis declared a state of emergency. Almost 3.2 million birds were euthanized at a cost of $161 million. The outbreak, from discovery to eradication, lasted 11 months.
Those two paragraphs are quoted from that article. The Gov. declared a State of Emergency, and it spread as far as Texas. Think about that!
If people follow the advice Ms. Hand gives, the State will go to extreme measures to eradicate the virus, and eventually no one will be able to have backyard flocks legally, they will just pass laws so you can't. That's how California will protect the commercial side of it IMO.

 

[ThracianHorse]

What people here need to do is go back and read about the previous quarantines and how they were handled
In 1971, a major outbreak here infected 1,341 flocks, caused 12 million birds to be euthanized, cost $56 million to end, and seriously threatened the nation’s entire egg and poultry supply. It was 19 months from the first to the last case detected.
Thirty years later, an outbreak that was started by illegally imported game fowl started here and spread to commercial operators and to backyard poultry in Arizona, Nevada and Texas. Then-Gov. Gray Davis declared a state of emergency. Almost 3.2 million birds were euthanized at a cost of $161 million. The outbreak, from discovery to eradication, lasted 11 months.
Those two paragraphs are quoted from that article. The Gov. declared a State of Emergency, and it spread as far as Texas. Think about that!
If people follow the advice Ms. Hand gives, the State will go to extreme measures to eradicate the virus, and eventually no one will be able to have backyard flocks legally, they will just pass laws so you can't. That's how California will protect the commercial side of it IMO.

This. So much this.

Also, we can play out the other scenario. Let's say in the extremely unlikely event, Hand wins. Not likely, but lets play that game. Right now, it isn't exactly hard to poach business form California, and given the increasingly hostile approach to animal agriculture in the state... the bird farms will leave. Taking jobs with them. I'm sure that will go over great in these lower-income counties where the farms are. All another state will have to do is to offer to pay for the infrastructure and setup. It's that simple. Destroying peoples lives and industry. Seems like a great idea.

Hand is playing Russian roulette just to assuage her personal outrage instead of looking at the bigger picture. "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes". If it gets to that point, expect the bird-farms to do something on the way out to the tune of backyard flock restrictions.

 

[Fishkeeper]

Whatever everyone thinks of the mandatory euthanasia, I think part of the issue discussed in this thread is the method. If any sort of euthanasia is to be carried out, in any situation, it needs to be humane. It sounds like humane methods aren't being reliably used, and that needs to be fixed.
It would also be a good idea to try to figure out, under what circumstances is euthanasia of all birds in an area actually needed? Some people keep birds primarily indoors, could there be restrictions placed where those birds have to stay indoors? If the euthanasia is the only way to stop the spread, well, it's necessary, but these birds aren't just livestock to a lot of people. They're pets. It would be good to put more thought into, under what circumstances is it absolutely necessary to kill someone's pets, and under what circumstances can they be put under some kind of home quarantine? Surely euthanizing indoor-only parrots is overkill.
It would cut down on people smuggling their birds out of quarantine zones if there were ways for them to keep their birds alive instead of them being killed.