(KESQ) -New information on a deadly disease killing poultry and birds. The state has now widened its Newcastle disease quarantine to include pet birds.
Pet birds in Southern California and Nevada can't leave the quarantine area. So bird owners, like the woman who
owns all of these birds, can't travel with their birds, and bird breeders can't sell outside the state. We met one man who says his business, and his birds may not survive this deadly disease.
From toucans to parakeets, the Bracken Bird Farm in Redlands sells thousands of birds, for thousands of dollars. But now, these cages, once full, are empty, and won't be filled for some time, now that the Newcastle quarantine has extended to pet birds, meaning they can't leave the quarantine area of Southern California.
"The people back east keep calling and I say I can't sell because of Newcastle,” says Joe Bracken, owner of Bracken Bird Farm. “And their next question is when it's gonna end. And I say I don't have a clue.”
Bracken says his business has plummeted by 75 percent. His contracts with out of state buyers, gone. His business with big name companies like Petco, cut-off. The Newcastle scare isn't just wiping out bracken's business, it's changing the rules for anyone who owns a pet bird. The quarantine applies to them as well. And at pet stores, like Petsmart, they're passing around Newcastle information sheets, telling customers if they buy a bird, they can't take it out of the area, or face a $25,000 fine.
At Petsmart, they're still selling healthy birds, but they've stopped transferring birds from store to store inside California, just to be safe. But Joe Bracken says nothing's safe for him anymore. He's owned his bird farm for 30 years, he's even been through 2 Newcastle epidemics, but this time around, he doesn't know if his business will survive.