Residents voluntarily surrender chickens

Star: KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians feel better being safe than sorry.
This was evident at the bird flu affected areas in Setapak where residents voluntarily “surrendered” their chickens for culling.
When a team from the Veterinary Services Department and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall arrived at Taman Ibu Kota, residents were seen approaching the officers to tell them that they kept chickens.
Kamaruddin Mohd Yunus said he had to part with his 11 chickens.
“My two daughters cried last night when I told them I had to give up the birds to protect the family from bird flu,” said the 49-year-old contractor, who kept his chickens in his backyard.
“My daughters, aged 11 and 14, treat the chickens as pets,” he said.
The family watched as the team went into the house compound to catch the chickens.
A rooster, however, escaped.
Kamaruddin promised to call the department when the rooster returned.
His neighbour, known only as Wan Aminnunddi, asked the team to catch a hen that called at his house.
“It often rests and lays eggs in my house compound,” said the 45-year-old businessman.
“I was very worried when I heard about the avian flu. I do not want to risk my life by allowing the hen to stay,” he said.
The hen was “not in” when the team went to his house but the eggs were taken away.
The team also received a complaint from a resident at Taman Danau Kota about Indonesians keeping chickens at a construction site there.
However, the team found out that the Indonesians had already destroyed the chickens.
At Wardieburn Camp, the team found a bird park with four peacocks, each worth RM30,000, four chickens and three pigeons.
However, the team could not take action because the owner of the park was not at home.