4
Wednesday, July 29, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Animal
abuse is
a crime
A Sisters woman posted
on Facebook last week that
she had witnessed young
children beating and killing
animals 4 mostly chipmunks
4 at Scout Lake. The woman
said that the mothers of the
children were aware of and
encouraged the behavior.
The Nugget attempted to
directly contact the woman
who reported the incident
without success.
It is worth noting that
such behavior falls under
the legal category of animal
abuse and it is a criminal act.
ORS 167.320 states that <A
person commits the crime
of animal abuse in the first
degree if, except as otherwise
authorized by law, the person
intentionally, knowingly or
recklessly:
(a) Causes serious physi-
cal injury to an animal; or
(b) Cruelly causes the
death of an animal&
Animal abuse in the first
degree is a Class A misde-
meanor and can be a Class
C felony if committed in the
in immediate presence of a
minor child.
If you witness suspected
animal abuse in Deschutes
County, call the non-emer-
gency dispatch number, 541-
693-6911, to report it.
Sisters
salutes...
Cloverdale Rural Fire
Protection District was
unable to hold their annual
awards banquet due to
coronavirus restrictions
4 but their volunteers
and staff still deserve a
salute:
" EMS of the Year 3
Kyle Wattenburg
" Rookie of the Year 3
Steven Lord
" Student of the Year 3
Charles Hert
" Firefighter of the Year
3 Capt. Rex Parks
" Volunteer of the Year 3
Joel Stutzman
" Deputy John Thomas
Award 3 Capt. Jeremy Hall
" Outstanding Service
Award (Don A Johnson
Aw a r d ) 3 M i c h e l l e
Stutzman.
Songbird diseases strike in Central Oregon
By Jim Anderson
Correspondent
As if the outbreak of
COVID-19 weren9t enough
for us to contend with, now
there is a chance that salmo-
nella (or something worse)
has begun to spread through
the passerine birds of Central
Oregon.
Back in the end of June,
Bob Hertzler, of Sisters,
discovered several dead red
crossbills under his feed-
ers in his back yard. Other
reports also came in about
dead local songbirds. Last
Thursday, Bunny and Mark
Thompson, also of Sisters,
found several dead red cross-
bills under their feeder.
Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife biologist,
Corey Heath presumed it was
salmonella when contacted.
He added, <There have been
several cases of it lately
around Bend and, unfortu-
nately, there will probably be
more.=
Salmonella, espe-
cially salmonella enterica,
is commonly found in the
intestines of wild birds. Birds
exposed to a contaminated
environment may become
infected accidentally, such as
with domestic pigeons and
some waterbirds, which then
gets passed on.
The most significant out-
breaks of wild bird salmonel-
losis occur in songbirds that
gather in large numbers at
bird feeders. But even then,
these birds have an immune
system that keeps the virus
from killing them 4 usually.
However, according to retir-
ing local songbird rehabber,
Elise Wolf, pine siskins fall
victim to salmonella all too
quickly, which in turn may
spread to other birds.
Salmonella may not be
the only disease killing song-
birds, however. Wolf has
seen many dead songbirds in
her career and has noted that
one thing may kills finches,
or siskins and something else
may kill crossbills.
In that light, she is sug-
gesting a different approach
to looking into dead song-
birds, including window
strikes. A bird hitting the
window is pretty obvious;
but why the bird hit the
window could be due to a
myriad of reasons 4 one
of which could be the bird
was momentarily disoriented
because it was sick.
So, like with humans
and the COVID-19 virus,
there are actions that must
be taken to ensure the bird9s
salmonella infection doesn9t
spread and then keep going
to infect humans, although
that risk is minimal.
According to a Deschutes
Public Health spokesper-
son, any dead bird must
be removed immediately.
Do not touch them without
proper protection. Also, if
an outdoor cat comes into
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the house with a dead song-
bird, quickly put on throw-
away gloves, wrap the cat in
a towel, isolate it in a com-
fortable place and watch it.
Then, place the dead bird in
a disposable sack along with
the gloves. The final rest-
ing place for the contami-
nated materials is in a con-
tainer headed for the Knott
Landfill.
The growth of the bird-
feeding business, which has
promoted bird watching, bird
loving, and general inter-
est in wild birds all over the
U.S., is also contributing to
bird diseases. If not cleaned
frequently, bird feeders can
become contaminated with
feces that allow bacteria and
virus contamination to grow
to life-threatening levels.
Wolf suggests, <To solve
bacteria outbreaks like sal-
monella at our feeders, it is
critical that everyone does
a thorough cleaning on the
feeders from time or time
or when they discover sick
birds. Wash, then soak for 10
minutes in five- to 10-percent
bleach solution, wash again,
then rinse. I like to put feed-
ers back up after washing in
order to support ill birds that
might be able to fight off the
infection if given food. This
PHOTO BY ELISE WOLF
Rehabbing a red crossbill, victim
of a wild salmonella virus or some
other disease.
does, however, mean fre-
quent feeder cleanings.=
If you come upon a dead
songbird in your yard, your
neighbor9s yard, the city
park, or underfoot anywhere,
contact Wolf at ewolf97@
gmail.com.
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