"Debating the Necessity of Taxpayer-Funded Poultry Culling to Combat Bird Flu"

The US Department of Agriculture has paid poultry producers over half a billion dollars for the birds they were forced to kill due to the H5N1 avian influenza outbreak, with the aim of encouraging quick reporting of outbreaks. However, animal welfare groups argue that the compensation program reinforces inhumane culling methods, such as using heat to kill thousands of birds at once. Some suggest that organic farming methods could make farms less susceptible to bird flu outbreaks.