Talking Birds

‘RELEASE the parrots. Stop questioning them. They won’t talk. As the Sun says, “POLLY IN THE CLEAR”. They have nothing to say.

Parrots might no longer be riddled with bird flu. The Sun says that officials were wrong when they claimed avian bird flu had been brought into the country by a blue-headed parrot from Surinam, South America.

This still leaves the matter of a dead parrot, and until we find out what killed it, there can be no cause for celebration among parrot kind. Fowl play cannot be ruled out.

And while the news is encouraging for Polly, things are not looking good for mesia finches. The Sun says these birds are the creatures to blame.

The Express says that 53 of these birds are believed to have died from the effects of the H5N12 virus. But we may never know the truth because not all of the carcases have been preserved. No fewer than 10 were roasted in an incinerator.

The Express says that incinerating the birds is a breach of quarantine rules unless authorised by a vet. And the suspicion is that no vet was contacted.

Over in the Mail this is nothing less than the “Bird flu shambles”. There’s a picture of a parrot (“Not guilty?”) and another of a mesia finch (“The latest suspect”).

And there’s the news that the Government cannot put an exact figure on the number of birds that perished in the Essex quarantine station.

And then there’s Brett Hammond, the fabled Mr Bird flu of past headlines. The convicted fraudster could now face charges of breaking quarantine regulations for disposing of the birds in an inappropriate manner.

But worse than this is the Mail’s news that the Government is unable to guarantee that diseased birds were not removed from quarantine and sold to the public.

We can’t afford to take any chances? If diseased birds have entered the country illegally, we need to act.

Round-up the parrots. One of them must know something. And if they won’t talk, show them pictures of what we do to turkeys at Christmas. That’ll break ‘em…’

Posted: 16th, November 2005 | In: Tabloids Comment | TrackBack | Permalink