UnchainedTV: Could Bird Flu Be the Next Pandemic?

0:00 Just as we were going to air, news has come down that is quite disturbing. Health officials, according to the Associated Press, are saying a Louisiana patient is the first severe bird flu case in the United States. And the Associated Press article adds that this year more than 60 bird flu infections have been reported with more than half of them in California. In two, an adult in Missouri and a child in California, health officials have not determined how they caught it. Our question today is, is our horrific treatment of farmed animals setting us up for the next pandemic?

0:44 And before you decide whether that is an exaggeration, we'll take a look at this. Numerous dairy cows have been spotted dead near the side of the road in California, documented on videotape by veterinarian and founder of Our Honour, Dr. Crystal Heath, who will be joining us in a bit. And now the USDA is going to be testing cow's milk. According to NBC, the mandate targeting bulk milk transporters and dairy processors is meant to help identify herds that have caught the virus, which has spread among livestock. So what happens when they find, look at this cow, if you're listening, take our word for it, nasal discharge, clearly a sick cow.

1:31 What happens when they start identifying bird flu amongst all of these cows? Are they going to do what they did to and have been doing to many, many millions of chickens? Look at this. This is how sick our society has gotten. This is a bird being baked to death live in a process called ventilation shutdown. And they're doing it to millions of birds. 2,000 veterinarians have signed a petition saying, tell corporations to stop using ventilation shutdown plus. Basically, they seal off the area and they turn up the heat and they bake these animals alive.

2:15 It takes them hours to die. It's kind of like when you get the termite removed and they tank your house and then they turn up the heat and you got to leave for a couple of days. This is what they're doing to millions of animals. Guess who's paying for all that? Us. The U.S. government subsidises this. Meanwhile, the U.S. government is going on and on and on about how we have to, oh, do something to stop bird flu. And don't worry, mostly focused on go ahead, keep eating your milk and your dairy and your meat. It's OK, consumers, nothing to worry about here. You know, will the human race ever learn?

2:57 We just went through a pandemic that killed millions of people. And whether you believe it started in the Wuhan market where they were torturing animals to be chopped up alive in a retail setting, or you think it started in the laboratory where they were also torturing animals in experiments. It's zoonotic, people. Seventy three percent of the emerging pathogens are zoonotic, means they come from animals. Bottom line, our horrific treatment of animals is what's brought us again to this crisis. I want to go straight out to Robert Grillo of Free From Harm. Robert, you've been on the forefront of this, speaking truth to power.

3:40 Where are we as a society that we're here again after just barely crawling out of the last pandemic? Yeah, right. And just the other day, Jane, Congress passed a disaster relief bill, which is which is giving 21 billion dollars to 21 billion, by the way, not million billion dollars to ranchers and livestock producers who have suffered losses from disease, from drought, from wildfires. All of the things that that industry actually creates is the biggest driver. Right. So the insanity in that alone is hard to wrap your head around.

4:25 But I'll tell you, you know, I have been to some industry conferences lately, like I was recently at the Federal Reserve Bank Agriculture Forum. And, you know, people are scared and they don't know where this is headed. The best experts don't know where this is headed. But the health experts around the world are sounding the alarm, like they have been doing for years, that bird flu is an inevitability if we don't change course. Again, I would like you to look at, and this is just a snippet, the cows, the dead cows piling up on the side of the roads in California, which, by the way, is the largest dairy state and the fifth largest economy in the world.

5:17 This is a horror show. And it's something that is happening right now in real time in California. I had to look at this footage yesterday getting ready for the show, and I was just horrified. Now, here's another image of a sick cow. You can see the nasal discharge coming out of the cow's nose. And obviously, the cow was surrounded by other cows, some of whom appear to be downed, but others are walking around. That is, you know, to me, and I'm the first to say I'm not an expert on this issue.

5:58 But to me, that is the first sign that cows are not being isolated, who are showing symptoms. And so that just on a basic logic level would mean that it could spread more rapidly. And I just can't believe that we are sleepwalking into this next disaster. I want to go to Amber Canavan, who's with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Amber, please tell me what PETA's position is on this emerging crisis. Well, PETA has been saying for years, I mean, back when we were in the previous avian flu outbreaks, and swine flu, and every other one that's come out is that the vast majority of emerging diseases come from animals.

6:54 And that is from mostly from mass confining them for food or, or taking them from the wild. And the thing we need to do to prevent the next pandemic is to go vegan. Because when factory farms are cramming thousands or 10s of thousands or even millions of animals into cramped, filthy conditions, you're creating a petri dish for diseases to spread, especially when they're spreading between species. So the fact that this is jumped into cows used for dairy is definitely very concerning.

7:36 I mean, it really is. And I, again, I'm not an expert in this subject at all. I've been reading articles, it's complicated. But the bottom line is that we are treating 92 billion animals every year, like trash, torturing them in industrial conditions. And we expect that there's no repercussions. I personally believe that nature is sending us a signal that this has got to stop. And so now I want to talk about the specific new breaking news.

8:18 There's two right before we went on the air, if you're just joining us, we got word that there's a first. And that is health officials are now saying a Louisiana patient is the first severe bird flu case in the United States. This is according to the Associated Press. Overall, more than 60 bird flu infections have been reported with over half of them in California. And here's the other breaking news is that the US Department of Agriculture has now ordered the testing of milk for bird flu. So I know you, Robert Grillo, are urging everybody and I would just say take a snapshot of this.

9:01 If you're watching, if you're listening, I will give you the number. Call the USDA 202-720-3631. That's 202-720-3631. I just called right before air, I got a voicemail. And what I said was, the United States government has got to stop subsidising the dairy industry. 73% of the dairy industry's profits in one shape or another come from US government subsidies.

9:43 That means that we, the taxpayers, are paying 73% of the dairy industry's profits. While 68% minimum, according to the National Institutes of Health, 68% of the world's population is lactose intolerant, which means most of us are allergic to dairy. So right there, it's illogical to push it. And then additionally, we're all talking about Make America Healthy Again and the obesity crisis. And what's contributing mightily to the obesity crisis? Ice cream, cheese, dairy, milkshakes, which again, the US government is subsidising.

10:26 It blows my mind, not to mention climate change. We're in a climate crisis. And the US government is purportedly trying to solve the climate crisis, while they're actually fuelling the climate crisis with subsidies to animal agriculture, which is a leading contributor to climate change. Robert Grillo, my head explodes when I think about the stupidity. Yeah, well, it's unbelievable. And we could talk about the whole show about that. But what I really want to do is hopefully provide people with a path to how we how we can have an impact on this.

11:08 And of course, the digital call to action, call Vilsack's office, follow up with an email, do both if you can. We have a script on our social channels for what to say if you're not sure, but there's three core things. And one of them is, we want the USTA to charge the corporations, not taxpayers, for this bird flu disaster that the industry itself is spreading, not taxpayers. The second thing is, which they probably will do is quarantine stop animals and product, milk product from leaving infected farms. Over half of the California dairy farms have had positive infections.

11:53 Those farms should not be selling milk. This will have a huge impact on the industry. And the last thing we want is we want the records made public of all of the infections that humans, workers, other humans, and animals, we want those records made public. The USDA doesn't want to make those records public, because they don't want to scare the public into thinking that we have a problem that they actually don't know how to control. But let me just say something about more than what we can do. Okay, so we had a group of very brave people, activists go to a cattle health meeting in Sacramento at the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

12:40 Actually, it was at the California Farm Bureau offices, just to show you how cosy, the most influential animal ag lobby group, the Farm Bureau is with the Department of Agriculture, just to show you that they have many of their meetings at this California Farm Bureau's office. And it's only people that have a vested interest in the animal ag industry. So they had a cattle health meeting, and they were talking about bird flu and what they can do about it. And for the first, perhaps the first time, there were activists in the room that were telling them that their policy is a disaster, and that they are betraying CDFA's mission of putting public health first.

13:30 And they are not putting public health first. This is not a complicated issue. This is about putting industry profits, dairy industry profits above public health, trying to save the dairy industry at any expense, even if it means a pandemic. Well, the US government is the dairy industry. The USDA is run by Tom Vilsack, who was a dairy industry executive. Prior to becoming the USDA Secretary for the second time, he was Secretary the first time under the Obama administration. So Amber, I mean, what can we do about the incredible ties between the dairy industry and the US government to the point where they are essentially, in my view, one and the same?

14:30 Right? I mean, well, first of all, whenever things like this are happening that, you know, do seem far above our heads, the first thing people should do is to stop giving money to these industries in the first place before going vegan, by going vegan, sorry. PETA does also have our subsidies campaign. So we are urging the government to pull subsidies out of the animal agriculture industry and put that into healthy vegan food production. And yeah, contacting Vilsack right now is also, as the action alert on the screen was, to let them know that people are upset that especially the dairy industry, but also the egg industry has been getting so many passes recently, and is getting covered.

15:31 They're getting covered to mass kill all these animals at taxpayer expense. And we're all suffering for it. And you had mentioned, Robert, that there were activists at that hearing, we have a clip of one brave activist who stood up and spoke truth to power. I'm worried about that bird flu very much. And I know that there are dead dairy cows infected with bird flu that lay along the roadside near dairy farms. The scavengers go after them. There's no biosecurity or warning. And that scavenger hunt there actually spreads the disease of bird flu to wildlife, other birds and humans.

16:13 How can the CDFA allow this? And are you putting industry profits over public health and animal welfare? That's my question. And we are showing you, these are still photos, we also have video shot by Dr. Crystal Heath, a veterinarian, who is the founder of Our Honour, a veterinarian organisation that seeks to stop the mass torture. And I know that Oh, oh, you're so exaggerating. No, the mass torture of animals in the industrialised food system.

17:00 And instead of being applauded for her work, she is actually being attacked. We're going to be speaking to her in a few minutes. Right now she is doing spay neuters. And she's going to try to go on a break at the half hour mark and join us and tell us how she got these images and she did not trespass. First user of trespassing, when she's taking the video, you can hear the sound of the cars right behind her. In fact, let me play something. So you can hear the sound of the cars.

17:54 You can also see the fence. And additionally, what scared me about that video, and I've been watching these videos for a couple of days now, it's it's really debilitating, is that you've got obviously sick, possibly dead, they look dead cows. And then you've got healthy ones walking around. So again, the idea that just as your activists stated at that hearing, they're not be the animals are not being separated, that that is just going to allow them to spread logic tells me that what are you saying, Robert? I'm saying that, listen, I've, I've had a conversation with Karen Ross, the Secretary of Agriculture.

18:36 I asked her directly about ventilation shutdown in about what her concern level is about bird flu. Those people that were representatives of her office at that cattle health meeting, from the video that you just showed, they're rattled. They don't know exactly what to do. They're trying to save face. But we need more people. If we want media attention on this, we need more activists that are willing to go to these meetings, confront these power holders, from the Agriculture Authority in California, California Department of Food and Agriculture, and interact with them face to face demand answers face to face, because all the emails and calls in the world will not be enough to solve this.

19:30 We need people willing to participate face to face. So that's, that's the effort that we're really involved in right now. Yes, and we're going to keep putting this up over and over again throughout the show. I called right before we went on the air 202-720-3631. And I left a voicemail. Do I know whether that's going to have an impact? No, but I know that if I don't make the call, it definitely won't have an impact. So I think they get inundated with calls. You know, somebody walks up, I've been on the other side, and I've seen how it works.

20:12 Somebody walks up to some executive and says, Hey, we're getting a lot of calls on this bird flu thing. I mean, yeah, it's, it's out of control. You know, something's got to be done. People are people. Yeah, there's, there's a lot of politically incorrect phrases I could use to describe how they will treat the general public in terms of, oh, they're getting, they're getting restless. Let's look, let's just put it that way. Now, I want to go back to Amber Canavan of PETA for the ethical treatment of animals. You know, as I was reading articles about this, the amount of animals, the sheer number of animals that we are killing for food is, is beyond comprehension, but then just killing because they've been exposed to the bird flu.

21:01 According to Science Alert, more than 300 million poultry birds have been killed or culled since October 2021, while 315 different species of wild birds have died across 79 countries. The World Organisation for Animal Health told AFP. Globally, 300 million birds. And how do we wrap our mind around that kind of horror, Amber? Anybody who's been involved in trying to protect animals for a long time. I mean, we're raising and killing 10 billion animals in the United States, land animals every year.

21:44 And that number, for me at least, is always ticking in my mind. But yes, these mass killings for disease control are incredibly disturbing. The ventilation shutdown and ventilation shutdown plus. In birds, avian flu is fatal. They're going to die if they get it. Cows, that has not been the case so far. But the extent of how sick they are appearing to get now is very worrying. And yeah, we may see some killing of the cows going forward.

22:28 And again, that is just part and parcel of the industry. Any animal who is not profitable will be disposed of, as we have seen through disease outbreaks. Or if an animal is injured or sick, it's not worth it for veterinary care. And they're just, they're killed. In the dairy industry, if a cow cannot get pregnant, she is worthless to the industry and she'll be killed. That's just the nature of raising and killing animals for food and using them for profit. And we need to change the way we see animals. And people need to get active.

23:11 We have alerts on our website and of course, contacting the USDA. You know, I thought maybe the pandemic that we just went through COVID-19 would have woken us up. But it didn't. It really did not. Unfortunately, the amount of meat that is being consumed is going up globally. I mean, the numbers are just beyond staggering. I've heard the word pandemic fatigue, right? So people are, they just made it through one and it's hard to imagine we're heading into another. But these numbers don't lie.

23:52 These are massive, massive amounts of chickens and turkeys mainly who've been mass killed in some of the cruellest ways possible because of this outbreak. And anyone who is purchasing meat, dairy or eggs right now, they are paying for that. Yeah, ultimately, it's a consumer issue. And what really strikes me in the so called environmentalists are always saying, well, you know, we can't just rely on individual action. We've got to have systemic change. Yes, we can rely on individual action if all the individuals got together and took the right action.

24:36 Right here, the New York Times reported last year, researchers, and this is an Oxford University study, very, very well regarded. Researchers examined a diet of 55,500 people and found that vegans are responsible for 75 % less in greenhouse gases than meat eaters. Now put another way, if you want to solve the climate crisis, if we all went plant based, if the word vegan makes you a little crazy, well, let's just say plant based. If we all went plant based, we could put a massive dent in the climate crisis.

25:20 We're going to now be joined by Dr. Crystal Heath. Dr. Heath, thank you so much for being here. I know you're doing a spay neuters and working very hard today. So I thank you for taking time off for for a few minutes. I want to go right into the video that you have provided and you've written now an article for Time Magazine. You've been in major publications. So you have a lot of credentials. You are an expert in the subject. What are we looking at? And please leave the names of the farms out. We're just in general here. Okay, so this was taken October 8th, and it was about 90 degrees that day when I went and I just drove along the side of the road.

26:02 I basically went to where the most dairies were and just drove by each dairy to see if I could find any signs of avian influenza. And pretty quickly, this was in Pixley, California in Tulare County. I found this pile alongside the road. And then this is also this is in the city of Tulare. You'll see two aborted foetuses and then the mom with nasal discharge and just flies everywhere. And that's been a huge question, too, is are these flies spreading this virus as well? And there's so many birds around everywhere.

26:42 And the idea of that these can be biosecure facilities is just laughable when you have birds, when you have flies. It's an impossible situation that we've created with modern intensive animal agriculture. Guess what? We've got more breaking news. California Governor Gavin Newsom has just declared a state of emergency over bird flu, calling it a proactive action. I am reading right now. I literally got a text from a friend, an amazing activist, Adita Bernkrant in New York with New York class.

27:24 She's watching our broadcast and she said, there's breaking news, Jane. Let me read it to you. And this is from CBS News. California Governor Gavin Newsom has issued. We might as well take a look at the problem while we talk about this. California Governor Gavin Newsom has issued an emergency proclamation on Wednesday. That's today in response to growing concerns over bird flu cases in the state and across the country. The state of emergency proclamation comes after more bird flu cases were detected in Southern California dairy cows, the governor's office stated. Wednesday also saw the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention report the first severe illness in a person due to bird flu in Louisiana.

28:12 We had reported that at the top of the hour. Dr. Heath, what's reaction to this declaration of a state of emergency in California? Yeah, I actually just saw that before I got on to and I tweeted about it. It's like finally, Gavin Newsom has entered the chat. We've lost 80% of California's chickens have been exterminated due to avian influenza. Like grocery store shelves are empty when so many people still are dependent on protein from animals. I wonder what this will mean. It usually means that they can mobilise resources better. So what will that mean? Will that mean that they are able to test more workers?

28:55 Are they going to be able to compensate workers for when they have to take time off work? Because that's been a big barrier to testing workers is because they don't want to be tested. They're not consenting to testing because they don't want to have to take time off work and lose that income. But meanwhile, they're still spreading this in the communities. And I actually a colleague of mine last week went to one of the big depopulations that was happening and took photos of workers without masks on and with the masks below the nose. And so that's a concern. Are they not being provided with enough PPE?

29:35 Why are they not being educated enough about the risks of this virus? Why such lax protocols related to PPE? So it'll be interesting to see what happens as a result of this state of emergency. Well, I'm showing a photo that is a bird being killed slowly with something called ventilation shutdown. Plus, you have led the way, leading more than 2000 veterinarians to sign a petition saying this is, well, I'll say it for myself. This is evil. This is evil, baking millions of animals to death and forcing taxpayers to pay for it. I'm just going to declare a state of evil.

30:17 How about that? What can we do about this, Robert? Well, Jane, I just wanted to say that what I thought was really interesting was that there's a farm workers union, I believe. I forgot the name of it, but also some public health groups that are now starting to organise to build awareness about this and try to change the government's policy. And what's interesting about that is where are we? We should be rallying at the governor's mansion. We should be championing this state of emergency, whatever it actually means.

31:00 Like Crystal said, it probably means freeing up funding to get to this problem. But in any case, we should use this opportunity to amplify our message instead of sitting back and watching this unfold. And it's an opportunity for us to really get a bigger message out about the industry and the problems the industry creates for animals, for public health, for the climate crisis and any number of farm workers. So that's what I wish. I would like to see more of us doing this. We should be at the USDA's office.

31:41 We should be at Gavin Newsom's mansion. We should be at the CDFA headquarters. We should be prioritising this because it's a huge trigger event that we could turn into something big. Well, let me say you do more than 99% of the people in trying to speak truth to power. I have a clip of you and your team trying to basically stop the farm bill, the upcoming farm bill from bailing out these industries for another five to 10 years. While at the same time, the incoming administration is talking about wanting to cut waste. The farm bill is a product of dark money that comes from the meat, dairy and egg industries who have bought your vote through millions of dollars in campaign contributions.

32:31 You have betrayed hardworking Americans, but we refuse to pay for these outbreaks that come from confining and slaughtering billions of animals. Not another penny for cooking millions of birds alive. It's time to fund a slaughter-free, plant -based food system. No, you didn't come to that. All right.

33:13 Well, there you go. This was prior to the declaration of the state emergency. The farm bill has not been passed in full. It's still being debated. Where are we with that? Because clearly to me, that is the key to solving this. If the US government stopped propping up the dairy industry, it would collapse. Kids aren't drinking milk the way they did back in the beaver days. And we've got a growing awareness, thanks to organisations like PETA and Switch for Good, that most people are allergic to dairy products. The National Institutes of Health itself says 68 % of humans experience lactose malabsorption.

33:59 No shock, because we are not cows. So we shouldn't be drinking the breast milk of cows. The US government is keeping this industry afloat. And now it is killing people in a new way with potentially, we've got a critically ill person in Louisiana due to bird flu. And now it's infecting dairy cows, as we saw. And still, the USDA and the government remains completely, completely, completely blind to its role in basically funding this industry.

34:40 I just can't believe the stupidity, Robert. I'm at a loss for words. Well, I think we tend to look at this industry and the USDA as this kind of monolithic force that is impenetrable and immune to change. But in actuality, when you actually go to their conferences and you talk to people, what you find is that they're scared shitless. I don't know any other way to put it. But they're in a very vulnerable situation here. And we can have an impact. We can leverage these weaknesses of the system that they've created, that they've propped up.

35:24 And we can use it to gain popular support, to change policy. Are we seeing that in the new voices we're hearing from people calling for cutting agriculture subsidies, criticising fast food and factory farming? All of a sudden, we're hearing RFK and others talk about ending factory farming or cutting subsidies for it. If that's really true, are we looking at a big change in policy? But even if we're not, we should be calling their bluffs and saying, if you really are so against factory farming, the first biggest thing you could do is cut subsidies to this industry, because it's basically on life support.

36:16 And without these subsidies, you pull the plug and the industry is going to be crippled financially. Even if we shift the subsidies by 20 to 30 percent, it's going to be crippling for this industry. I mean, look at what we're looking at. This is happening in California right now, as the governor declares a state of emergency. Dr. Heath, I know that you have been actually targeted for trying to raise this issue. Again, we don't want to get into any specific names here, but why aren't you being hailed as a hero for risking your life to go out and videotape and photograph these cows, instead of being attacked with some people trying to remove your veterinary licence because you've alerted people?

37:10 You may be the very reason why California is declaring a state of emergency, because you're the person who videotaped these cows and wrote an article in Time magazine that has been picked up everywhere. Yeah, I mean, it's really absurd, but the industry's biggest fear is trusted messengers criticising the industry, and that's what veterinarians are. It's easy to dismiss vegans and animal rights activists because farmers have more public trust than vegans and animal rights activists, but when you have a veterinarian who is speaking about the issues and the public health threat and our food security threat and the animal welfare issues, that is very dangerous for the industry.

37:51 Veterinarians are taught over and over again, and the AVMA's message has been, we need consistent messaging around these issues, around depopulation, and when you have a veterinarian like me and 2 ,000 others straying from the AVMA industry message, that is a huge threat, and that could topple their whole industry, so that's why we believe our honours work is so important, mobilising more veterinarians to question the industry narrative and the AVMA and speak to the press directly, because right now, the press, whenever there's an avian influenza outbreak, they ask the ag departments, what's your take on this, and the ag departments say, don't worry, the food supply is safe, the milk is safe to drink, pasteurised milk doesn't have any risk of avian influenza, when that's not the issue, it's the food production methods that are threatening public health, animal welfare, and our food security, and those are the questions that the journalists need to ask and start to question, and how much is this costing taxpayers?

38:54 These things aren't in the media, but we're getting these talking points in the media, and that is scary to them, so yeah, now a page with more than a million followers is calling for my veterinary licence to be removed, we'll see what happens with that, it's quite scary, but I think I'm on the right side of history. Well, you know what I say, no good deed goes unpunished, it's a cliche, but it is true, so please keep us surprised, because we will obviously be on your side to protest any attempts to remove your licence, and that's a big story.

39:36 Yeah, I think it is too. That's a big story, and that could backfire really badly on the industry, you're the one who basically was the Paul Revere of the situation, hey, bird flu is coming, bird flu is coming, look at this, I'm going by the side of the road, videotaping these things, and this is a crisis, and now, just now, while we were on the air, the governor of California has declared a state of emergency over bird flu, and there's gonna come a time where the lies will not stand. I have to throw another cliche out there, you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time, and you know, Amber, I want to bring in this whole issue of now, with the incoming administration talking about make America healthy again, you know, I've been saying that for the longest time, I've used that phrase long before it came into the news, yes, but why are 43% of Americans obese?

40:41 Why are 68% or more of Americans overweight or obese? It's because the US government is subsidising bad food, and it's meat, in the form of especially fast food, which a huge percentage of Americans eat on a daily basis, and that's cheap hamburger, cheap shakes, all meat and dairy based, but without US government subsidies, those same items would cost something like 20 or $25. Okay, not $1 burger, a 250 burger, it would be at least, well, triple, quadruple, much higher.

41:24 So while they're talking now about make America healthy again, and they're also talking simultaneously about how they want to cut $2 trillion off the federal budget, and there's a slew of articles saying, you're not going to be able to do that, because a lot of these costs are fixed, and it's servicing the debt, blah, blah, blah. Well, the answer is sitting there right on a silver platter in front of them. The farm bill, the farm bill, which has not passed yet, contains the proposed farm bill that they'd like to pass, literally, over the course of 10 years, more than a trillion dollars in subsidies that are making us sick, contributing to climate change, inspiring pandemics, and every other darn thing under the sun.

42:13 It's an easy place to cut. Do you think anybody is seeing this? Right. I mean, in times when there's a feeling of panic or crisis, like right now, when a state of emergency is announced far, far too late, the states have been having this very patchwork response to the avian flu outbreak for many, many, many months. And public health officials have been, rightfully so, very frustrated at this patchwork, delayed response. We've been two steps behind for a long time.

42:57 And at least as far as PETA goes, it's always going back to the power that us individuals have and where we can make the most impact. And we're ready to support any activists who want to get involved and jump on this issue. We will help activists with materials for doing, you know, demonstrations, for giving out free vegan dairy and eggs or whatever, to show people that there are alternatives. And of course, you know, contacting the USDA to get better policies to help end the mass, cruel mass killings of these birds and possibly in the future, the cows.

43:50 It's a mess out there, but I think all of us on the show right now can attest there are so many things you can do to get active and involved on this issue. Well, not to depress you further, but I've got some other really disturbing news, reading articles associated with this issue. Take a look at this. This is from a scientific publication and here's the headline. Alarming mutation in H5N1 virus, that's the bird flu virus, raises pandemic red flags. Now here's the fine print people, fasten your seat belts.

44:31 A recent study published in science and funded by the National Institutes of Health has that a single alteration in a protein on the surface of the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus currently present in US dairy cows could significantly increase its potential for human to human transmission. Again, a single alteration in a protein on the surface of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus. Dr. Crystal Heath, we also had the breaking news of health officials declaring today that a Louisiana patient is the first severe bird flu case in the United States, but more than 60 bird flu infections have been reported.

45:28 What do you make of this mutation warning? Yeah, this mutation would make it more easily transmissible between humans and has that happened yet? We have seen this virus evolve over the last several months and gain more ability to infect humans and we're waiting for that, is it now transmissible between humans state, which would be very concerning. This is a virus that historically has had around a 50% mortality rate in humans. We obviously haven't seen that with the dairy workers who've just experienced some severe conjunctivitis and respiratory signs, but we've seen no deaths from it yet.

46:13 But is that a possibility as it mutates? Can it come more deadly and more easily transmissible between humans and lead to the next pandemic? I want to go back to your video that you shot so courageously, because I think you did put yourself at risk to shoot this. You're going up to, again, you did not trespass, you were falsely accused of trespassing. And I even played a clip where you can hear the cars whizzing by and you can see that you're outside the fence. But I mean, what does this video that you recorded tell you about the broken response? I mean, you are walking up and just seeing this. Yeah.

46:53 And you see these cows are uncovered. There's no signage anywhere warning anybody of the risk. And when I saw this, I contacted the CDFA to express my concerns and they didn't really care. They said, yeah, the rendering trucks are backed up because so many cows are dying. And I was like, wow, that's alarming. And Anya Radabaugh of the Western United Dairies confirmed that in the media. But yeah, we're always kind of caught off guard and unprepared for these infectious disease outbreaks. And these happen over and over again every few years. And each time it happens, we're shocked and we have to resort to cruel things like ventilation shutdown and piling up animals alongside the road and things like that.

47:37 It was interesting. A journalist went out there to that farm after I had sent them the footage and there was another dead cow laying there. And while the journalist was there talking to the farmer, a dog came up and sniffed the dead body. So this could spread. This is the perfect environment where cats, there's lots of community cats in the area. Dogs can come up to these cows and potentially get infected and spread it. So it's very concerning. And they should at least cover them. They should spray flyspray. They should put signs out. Those are easy fixes. Yeah, we can't fix the number of rendering trucks right now.

48:18 But those are some easy solutions that they just weren't doing. And they're aware of this, obviously. Robert Grillo's associate made that point. Let's listen to it again, because now with the information you've just provided. I'm worried about that bird flu very much. And I know that there are dead dairy cows infected with bird flu that lay along the roadside near dairy farms. The scavengers go after them. There's no biosecurity or warning. And that scavenger hunt there actually spreads the disease of bird flu to wildlife, other birds and humans. How can the CDFA allow this? And are you putting industry profits over public health and animal welfare?

49:03 That's my question. Wow. You know, I'm going to do something bold. I know it's a two-party state. So I'm in California, so I can't call somebody and have a conversation and record it without their permission. But I called the US government and I got a voicemail. So I got a voiceover. So this isn't a person, this is just a voice. Let's see. Okay. You call the number. This is the number we're telling you to call.

49:44 Okay. I am calling right now and leaving my message as a US citizen to say, you are mishandling the bird flu. And the solution is not to do more mass killing of birds. Okay. The solution is to stop subsidising animal agriculture and let the free market decide. And now the incoming administration says they want to cut $2 trillion off the budget. The best way to do that is to cut the 73% of profits to the dairy industry that comes from the US government.

50:29 I do not want my tax dollars supporting ventilation shutdown of millions of birds. I do not want my tax dollars rewarding farmers for keeping animals in horrific conditions. Stop the bailout, stop the subsidies. Thank you. Okay. That was my message. And I'm telling everybody out there, you can call too. Okay. There's the number 202-720-3631. If you're listening, jot it down. 202-720-3631.

51:10 If you're watching, take a screen grab. If you're not going to call the second or just call now. I mean, we've given you the lowdown on what's going on. This is a crisis. It is an unfolding crisis, people, happening right, a slow motion train wreck happening before our eyes. I just lived for two and a half, three years in my apartment by myself or walking my dogs or using a mask. I do not want to do that again. I do not want to go through that again. Final thoughts, everybody. And I'll start with, we've only got a couple of minutes. So give us your final 30 seconds, Amber of PETA.

51:55 Just never be silent. And PETA is ready to help any activists who want to get involved. We will get you set up with all the materials you need to help those animals on those factory farms. Thank you, Amber. Robert, your final thoughts? To build a coalition with other groups that are concerned about public health, about climate, about pandemics, about animals, and all come together to collectively gain power over this very destructive and dangerous industry. And our very special guest, Dr. Crystal Heath, thank you again for joining us.

52:36 I know you are working very hard around the clock to do spay, neuter. So I appreciate you taking the time. What are your final thoughts? Yeah, I mean, people can go and see these things for themselves. And I'm kind of shocked that me and just one other person are the only people going to the Central Valley and other areas where avian influenza is infecting herds and flocks and taking photos. I hope more animal advocates take photos, talk to the media. We are continuing to talk to the media and get them to ask the right questions. And this is so, so important. Update them on how much in bailouts that we are giving these companies. This is really important information to get out there.

53:17 Write op-eds, write letters to the editor. If you wanted to volunteer for our honour, go to ourhonor.org and help us out and get this message to the media via trusted messengers, which are so important for getting the right narrative out there in the media. Well, thank you again, Dr. Heath. And my final thought is I've always believed in the law of unintended consequences. Sometimes I think the worst things that happen to me end up being the best things, like I got fired and then I got a much better job. And this is a horrible crisis, but there is an opportunity in this crisis. This is a wake up call to the American people to let these industries go.

54:00 There is no need for you to drink the breast milk of a cow. It is unnatural. Most of us are allergic and there's no need for us to eat animals to get protein. It's all just unnecessary. And it's coming back to bite us big time. I think that this could be an opportunity for America and by extension, the world to wake up, wake up and evolve. We are complicit when we eat meat and when we eat dairy. And I haven't eaten meat or dairy in going on 30 years.

54:43 And I haven't eaten meat for probably my entire life, but dairy 30 years. And look at me. Okay. Nobody on this panel is eating animals. We're doing okay. So it's really an opportunity, I think, for all of us to wake up and to evolve beyond killing 92 billion animals. That's land animals alone for food every year. And the last thing I'd say is please support Unchained TV. We are the world's only 100% plant -based animal rights streaming television network. So it's a vegan Netflix. Okay. That's the craziest thing I've ever heard.

55:23 I love Unchained TV. Unchained, Unchained TV. Your life will change. It's just that easy. Unchained TV has all sorts of content for everybody. Unchained TV changed my life. Unchained TV is crushing it. I love Unchained TV. Unchained TV is my go-to. Unchained TV. Who knew? Unchained baby, yeah.