Animal Justice Party criticises Golden Plains council amid bird flu outbreak

Bird flu has been found at a second egg farm in regional Victoria, as concerns are raised about the scale of the industry in the Golden Plains Shire area.

Workers at the Meredith chicken farm go through a cleaning station before entering the farm. Picture: Mike Dugdale

The Animal Justice Party claims Golden Plains Shire’s encouragement of intensive agriculture is a “recipe for disaster” after hundreds of thousands of birds were culled at a farm in Meredith following an outbreak of avian influenza.

Bronwyn Currie, Victorian convener of the AJP, said crowded conditions at farms with thousands of animals and birds packed together set an alarmingly ideal scenario for the spread of pathogenic bacteria and viruses, which could potentially lead to another pandemic.

Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell: NCA Newswire / Nicki Connolly

AJP MP Georgie Purcell said she recently warned the government of zoonotic disease risks in animal agriculture.

“The specific risk for Golden Plains has also been raised by our members at council meetings and to their planning department,” Ms Purcell said.

“Tens of thousands of chickens have now been killed in what was a totally preventable outbreak.”

A spokesman for the Golden Plain Shire said council had been actively collaborating with the lead response agency, Agriculture Victoria, and other relevant agencies to mitigate the risk of the disease spreading to additional areas and farming operations.

“Agriculture Victoria control orders have been implemented to restrict the movement of poultry, poultry products, equipment and vehicles in the designated areas surrounding the infected property,” he said.

“Non-compliance with these restrictions will result in penalties.

“Agriculture Victoria has launched a dedicated website with the latest updates, which council is also promoting through its own website and social media channels.

“Council strongly encourages all poultry operations and residents who own poultry in Golden Plains Shire to promptly report any sick or deceased animals to Agriculture Victoria.

A truck load of gas bottle arrive at the Meredith farm

“Council’s priority is to safeguard the health and wellbeing of all residents, business owners and animals by sharing crucial information and aiding the enforcement of necessary restrictions.”

The Avgo farm in Meredith was previously owned by Moorabool Valley Eggs, which went into administration last year.

The outbreak there resulted in 400,000 birds being euthanised.

On Thursday afternoon bird flu was detected at a property in Terang, which has been linked to the property at Meredith.

Avgo spokesman Laz Lekakis said operations had been paused and it was supporting the work being performed by Agriculture Victoria and their teams.

“As a family run, local business, we are devastated by the impact of the avian flu which has been discovered on two of our sites,” Mr Lekakis said.

“Each of our two infected sites have been impacted by a different strain of the avian flu, which means there has been no cross contamination between our farms – just bad luck.

“Sadly, it is difficult to protect against avian flu but at such a difficult time, we can rest assured that we have been following all protocols and there is nothing we could have done to prevent this.”

Originally published as Animal Justice Party criticises Golden Plains council amid bird flu outbreak