Victorian government criticised over ‘barbaric’ use of firefighting foam to kill 30,000 farmed ducks

Exclusive: Animal advocates condemn culling method used in response to bird flu outbreak

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About 30,000 farmed ducks were killed using firefighting foam as part of the Victorian government's effort to contain bird flu, a method Animal Justice party MP Georgie Purcell has condemned as nothing short of barbaric".

The state's agriculture minister, Ros Spence, confirmed Agriculture Victoria used Phos-Chek, a class-A foam, while responding to a highly contagious strain of avian influenza, or bird flu, which emerged earlier this year at several poultry farms.

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