U.S. Department of Agriculture officials and game farms like Spring Farm are quick to blame wild birds when avian flu outbreaks threaten the public and hurt their bottom line [“Thousands Of Fowl Euthanized By USDA At Sag Harbor Game Farm Over Bird Flu Outbreak Concerns,” 27east.com, March 30].
However, it bears reminding that it was in commercial farms where a harmless waterborne virus mutated to gain airborne transmission and extreme virulence. By breeding and raising animals, often confining them in filthy, windowless sheds by the thousands, we are creating hot spots for zoonotic diseases. And when animals are captive-bred and released to the wild, like at Spring Farm, not only are any rules of “fair chase” thrown to the wind, but diseases are as well.
While many of the birds at Spring Farm will be easily captured and killed, since they were bred in captivity and do not have the same guile as animals reared naturally by their parents in the wild, some no doubt will escape and continue the spread of this deadly disease, just like those that escape its grounds regularly with their bodies laden with bullets before being rehabilitated by our friends at Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center.
My organization, Long Island Orchestrating for Nature (LION), is urging the public to help animals and stop the next pandemic by leaving animals off their plates and condemning hunting ranches like Spring Farm that threaten the health and safety of humans and birds alike.
John Di Leonardo
Riverhead
Shut Him UpFolks: it is time to take Michael Daly at his word(s), unpleasant as that may be. First: glide by his smarmy greeting card calls for “love.” His own words reveal him, above all, and consistently, a purveyor of hate and...
Suffering in SilenceWhen our world gets out of balance, we lose our comfort and security. Too much or too little of anything spikes our fear, and we lose our sense of peace. Those who have what they want and need are comfortable....
Advocate & Adjudicate?The previous administration of [Supervisor Jay] Schneiderman and current board member Tommy John Schiavoni did not give high priority to monitoring appointed public officials for ethical lapses in their private life activities. This laissez-faire policy towards ethics enforcement appears to...
Soil Is CallingIn a book titled “In Old Southampton,” Abigail Halsey reminds us that in the early days of Southampton, “every man was a farmer and a fisherman.” But those days are long gone and most people, today, have no connection to...
A Web of InterestsKudos to Craig Catalanotto [“What Are We Doing?” Letters, April 18] and Barbara Ring [“Tangled Web” Letters, April 18] for their letters to the editor shining a light on the web of special interests, conflicts of interest and misinformation that...
Dates of InfamySeptember 11 and October 7, similar dates of infamy for strong allies with similarly divergent reactions. Now gathered mobs of protesters are cheering on those who cry “Death to America” and call for the complete annihilation and genocide of the...
Your VoiceOn June 25, registered Democrats will go to the ballot box to determine who will represent their ticket for New York’s 1st Congressional District. Although CD1 has recently been held by Republicans, both parties have assumed leadership over the years....
Master ClassI thank Barbara Ring for aptly proving my point. In response to my letter [“An Alliance,” Letters, April 11], which decried the state of civic public discourse in Hampton Bays as being overtaken by misinformation, fear-mongering and conspiracy peddling, Ring...
