ANIMAL rights campaigners are planning to set up a billboard in Dawlish following an outbreak of Avian Flu.

PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - says it is hoping to place a billboard in the area reading: ‘Love Birds? Don’t Eat Them. Chicken Farms Spread Bird Flu – Go Vegan!.’

The proposed sign aims to highlight the role that PETA claims poultry farms play in the spread of avian flu.

Their claim come after up to 50 waterfowl in the town’s aviary were culled due to the highly pathogenic disease.

PETA Vice President of Vegan Corporate Projects Dawn Carr explained: ‘The billboard would remind locals that eating the flesh of chickens – who live in severely crowded, ammonia-filled sheds and are killed in filthy abattoirs – is the direct cause of the spread of deadly pathogens, including bird flu, that can easily mutate and spread to humans and wildlife.

‘Every chicken is an individual who deserves our protection just like the Dawlish swans we admire.

‘Factory farms are breeding grounds for disease and suffering. By going vegan, you help stop bird flu and spare countless lives.’

The birds, which included tufted ducks, mandarins and shelducks as well as geese, had to be humanely culled after Dawlish Town Council was notified by the Animal and Plant Agency that several birds in the aviary had tested positive for the disease.

At least five birds in the aviary had already died as had several of the famous black swans before the tests confirmed it was Avian Flu.

However, birds out on Dawlish Water, including the two new cygnets, were not included in the cull and will continue to be closely monitored according to guidance by the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

There had been a handful of complaints about the cull, suggesting infected birds should have been separated and treated.

However, legislation demands the birds had to be culled.