Mayor Venancio “Asiong” Macapagal said on Tuesday soldiers tasked to help in the culling of the birds went house-to-house on the last day of the culling, seizing and destroying all the remaining birds including chickens, ducks, quails, geese and pigeons being kept in backyards of residents in the said village which was identified by authorities as ground zero in the outbreak.
He said the destroyed birds included some 178,000 chicken layers, 21,000 ducks and 16,000 quails as well as native free-roaming chickens and even highly-priced fighting cocks in the quarantined area.
The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) said 113,105 birds were also destroyed in the seven-kilometer controlled zone surrounding ground zero.
The mayor said some of the poultry eggs of chickens, ducks and quails, were eaten by the residents and teams of soldiers and provincial government workers during breakfast and snacks in the 10-day culling period and the rest destroyed.
“Ginawa na po namin ang lahat ng makakaya natin pati na po yung mamahaling sasabunging manok kaya medyo masakit po sa kanila (We did everything we can even destroying their highly-priced fighting cocks that’s why it’s hard for them),” the mayor lamented.
Macapagal said poultry farmers here will have to wait for 90 days before a test will determine by the DA if the area is finally free from the avian influenza virus.
Only after the clear signal is given by authorities can farmers start their poultry farms again, he said.
In the meantime, the mayor said farmers will just have to rely on the promised government compensation for the destroyed birds and eggs as well as support in the form of soft loans and grants of P5,000 each to their workers during the 90-day period.
As for the residents, the mayor said they will just have to get used to waking up in the morning without the normal crowing of the roosters and chirping of the birds.
