Indiana’s ban on poultry shows could stop rustling feathers on September 17. Indiana’s Board of Animal Health issued the ban during an avian flu outbreak, but no new cases have emerged anywhere in the country in the past three weeks.
The U.S. can officially be declared flu-free if the virus doesn’t appear by mid-September. State veterinarian Bret Marsh says along with setting an end date for the bird ban, the state has narrowed it to cover just poultry -- not parrots, doves or pigeons.
"We have received a number of inquiries from the American Racing Pigeon Association and we’re a major player in those events," Marsh says. "We didn’t know this until the order came about, but they bring these pigeons to a central location and release them in these homing events and apparently we’re a site where many of these birds are released."
Poultry will still be banned from the state fair next month. The Board of Animal Health plans to implement a rule requiring buyers and sellers to keep transaction records for three years after the ban is lifted.
