They also claimed that poor animal husbandry practices resorted to by most poultry farms and slaughtering units in the state are also responsible for the virus spreading in the state.

These observations were made on the basis of an undercover investigation conducted by PETA over the last five years with respect to the operational standards at poultry farms across the country. Campaign manager of PETA India N G Jayasimha on Thursday said, “We have submitted a report of the findings and recommendations to the director of animal husbandry, Government of West Bengal in June 2007. But the state government never got back to us. If proper animal husbandry practices would have been implemented as per the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and the recommendations of WHO, then the disease could have been avoided.”

Jayasimha added, “It is complete negligence on the part of the government that the early warnings were not taken into consideration and no heed was paid towards our findings.”

The investigation report, which has also been made into a documentary, shows that in most poultry farms across the country, including the affected areas of Bengal, are unhygienic. It added that 1,500 to 2,000 birds are crammed into tiny battery cages without proper ventilation. In these cages, the hens are in regular contact with each other, which aids to quick transmission of diseases such as the bird flu.

“In several places, we found that the birds are made to live on top of mounds of their own faeces, which were as much as 2 to 3 feet in height. The smell of the ammonia is so strong in these cages that it burns the eyes and other sensitive parts of the birds,” Jayasimha said. PETA members claimed that it is not only the backyard poultry farms in the state, but some of the more sophisticated integrated units also do not adhere to proper standards.

Citing recommendations of the United Nations Task Force and the WHO, Jayasimha maintained that it was not enough to blame wild birds for spreading the virus among chickens — poor animal husbandry practices had to be addressed first. “Almost 100 per cent of the farms that we visited in Bengal did not have proper sanitary conditions,” Jayasimha said.

Further, PETA has urged that the birds be culled as per the guidelines of the Centre in the state. “Instead of twisting their necks when they are alive, they should either be first sedated before being killed, or put into gas chamber,” said Jayasmiha.