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

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

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.

Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads