Windsor’s Pending Cat-a-clysm

World class cities such as  New York, Chicago  or Vancouver are tempting certain Armageddon in their foolishness to allow the raising of a few chickens by city folk. 

How could Vancouver Coastal Health have been so careless in granting their blessing?  Didn’t they read  Animal Farm or Gord Henderson’s December 18th column?

In some Vancouver backyard, the locals – both feathered and furred - are conspiring to “remove Man” to free themselves of his “tyranny” while laughing at the silly regulations governing the raising and maintenance of backyard hens.

In conducting his extensive research on the topic, which all mainstream media columnists obviously must undertake, Gord Henderson warned of our pending feathery Armageddon from H5N1:

…in spite of our economic woes and the social discord created by our repressive laws against backyard chickens and all the good things that come with them, including Avian Flu, rank among the happiest people on this planet (Gord Henderson, Windsor Star, December 18, 2010).

But unfortunately, Windsor’s fate was sealed long before baby chicks were but a gleam in a rooster’s eye from some unlikely sources.

A 2006 study by scientists at the Department of Virology, Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands found that Avian Flu could find a potential new route of  human transmission through Fluffy, your household cat – and more so should Fluffy venture out and discover the outdoor buffet on the city’s Riverwalk or be visited by a gentleman caller on a late-night prowl.

The felines in the Netherlands were fed virus-infected birds and 3 days later tested positive for the Avian Flu.  Not only did they test positive, they were able to transmit the virus to their feline pals.

The virus was found in not only their organs, but in their respiratory system as well, prompting the scientists to speculate, “cats may form an opportunity for this avian virus to adapt to mammals, thereby increasing the risk of a human influenza pandemic.”

Why Mr. Henderson did not warn of this cataclysm that contently purrs on the nearest window-sill is not known, but an even greater danger waits in the City of Windsor’s own by-law.

That bylaw permits residents to own up to 80 pigeons and allows their owners to let 40 of them fly around at a time, twice a day, bringing new meaning to “it’s gone airborne!” 

Health officials in China sounded the alarm in 2009 when a deceased feral pigeon tested positive for the virus:

A spokesman for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of Hong Kong said Saturday that a dead feral pigeon found in Tuen Mun was confirmed to be H5N1 positive.

Poor Fluffy. 

All she wanted was a late-night snack after her conjugal visit with a gentleman caller.

Instead that cute little ball of fur wiped out the human race.

And we laughed at George Orwell’s book in high school. 

In light of this, our Manager of Chicken Operations, Drew Dilkens, must not only ban chickens, but felines, pigeons and any other mammal that could be a potential vessel for transmission of Avian Flu.

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