A quarter of a million birds were euthanized in Sonoma County following the confirmation of avian flu at two Bay Area farms. The California Department of Food and Agriculture verified the positive cases of the virus.
Among the affected farms is Sunrise Farms, co-owned by Mike Weber, a third-generation egg farmer from Sonoma County. Over 80,000 chickens from Sunrise Farms had to be euthanized. Weber said a neighboring duck farm had been hit even harder.
“They lost their entire operation, 170,000 ducks, and those ducks are coveted across the state,” he said.
“It’s just been devastating for us, nothing but devastating.”
Weber said the timing of the outbreaks was “suspicious,” coming as an animal rights activist from the ‘Direct Action Everywhere’ group was being sentenced for raiding the farms in 2018 and 2019.
“We are concerned that this was domestic terrorists, and they’ve attacked our food supply,” Weber explained.
The outbreaks also come as California state wildlife agencies are commending the progress of a bird flu vaccine.
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