David Tzruya, chairman of the Moshav Avioz committee, blamed the government for its failure to contain the disease.
“This country is messed up. They discovered the virus in Ein Hashlosha and in Holit (this weekend), and they’re still working on slaughtering the birds there. The herons are wandering freely in the whole area and spreading the disease, and vaccinations aren’t enough," he said.
"Right now it’s just an economic fiasco, but it’s just a matter of time until people start dying. If they had killed the birds immediately as they should have in Holit, Sufah, and Ein Hashlosha, everything would look different now,” Tzruya charged.
Birds being culled in Sderot (Photo: Amir Cohen)
Tzruya claimed that the compensation sum of NIS 15 million (about USD 3.2 million) which the government declared Sunday is not realistic because his moshav alone raises hundreds of thousands of chickens.
“NIS 15 million isn’t even the worth of one farm. My whole livelihood is shot. Damages will hit NIS 100 million (about USD 22 million) if all my birds are killed. No one spoke to me or told me anything. Everything is destroyed and no one cares,” Tzruya charged.
'Natural disaster'
Tato, who owns a chicken farm in Nir Oz, told Ynet that 200-300 of his birds died Sunday.
“No one is talking to us, and only a few newspapers have come. We have a beautiful flock of pullet chickens, and even the thought of having to kill them hurts,” Tato said.
Yaacov Cohen, secretary of the union of chicken breeders, called on Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to declare the bird flu outbreak a natural disaster.
“If the ambiguity regarding the compensation of chicken farmers continues, some farmers may grow afraid for their livelihoods and may decide for themselves, and not cooperate with Health and Agriculture Ministries instructions,” Cohen warned.
Failure to obey the instructions, he noted, would bring worse damages and could endanger human lives.
Cohen called on all poultry farmers to contact the foundation and report damages as soon as possible.
Meital Yasur-Beit Or and Shmulik Hadad contributed to the report