It’s been five years since the start of a zoonotic COVID-19 pandemic that killed millions of people. Now, the United Nations is urging member governments to take coordinated action to address the “unprecedented” spread of highly pathogenic bird flu — a threat to health, food security, biodiversity and more. The world has reached an inflection point, another chance to do what is needed to prevent a health crisis.
This will either be remembered as the moment we failed to save lives or the moment we finally reckoned with the dangers of factory farming and our mass exploitation of animals.
Despite troubling signs that the virus is mutating and could become more transmissible, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s $1 billion strategy to fight bird flu is likely to create more danger, as the federal agency funnels $400 million into factory farms as reimbursements for chickens lost. In so doing, it is propping up the very industry fueling the spread of zoonotic disease.
Since early 2022, nearly 170 million farmed birds have died or been killed in the U.S. due to bird flu outbreaks, equivalent to roughly half the country’s human population. Just since last year, 70 human cases have been reported, the majority of which resulted from direct exposure to livestock. Three came from unknown sources.
Rather than protecting the public, the U.S. government remains focused on bolstering corporations and lowering egg prices, which, according to a recent report, have likely been artificially inflated by agribusiness titans taking advantage of consumers.
To protect the health of animals and humans, the Trump administration should quickly shift support away from factory farming in favor of a safer and more sustainable plant-based food system. Otherwise, we could be reflecting on an even deadlier pandemic five years from now.
As Mark Twain said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”
Gene Baur is president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, the world’s premier farm animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, and author of the books “Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food” and “Living the Farm Sanctuary Life.”
Egg prices are suddenly plunging as the bird flu begins to wane and imports surge to fill the gap.
Why it matters: A massive outbreak of avian influenza has wiped out more than 166 million chickens since 2022, leading to sporadic egg shortages and price hikes.
It’s also turned into a political issue with Republicans and Democrats arguing about who’s to blame — and President Trump taking credit for the decline in prices in recent weeks.
By the numbers: The average wholesale price of a dozen eggs was $3 Friday, down 8% from $3.27 on March 21, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data released Friday.
It’s down 63% from a record $8.15 in the Feb. 21 report.
The big picture: Retail prices, which typically trail wholesale, are beginning to drift downward as well.
“It was only four weeks ago that we were at the highest price the market had ever seen,” Brian Moscogiuri, a global trade strategist at Eggs Unlimited, told Axios. “So it just takes time for those lower prices to be passed along.”
Purchasing restrictions and slowing consumer demand also “placed significant downward pressure on the market,” Ryan Hojnowski, with price-reporting service Expana, told Axios.
State of play: Inventories are recovering amid a sudden and largely unexplained slowdown in bird flu cases. The Trump administration has also taken steps to boost egg imports to combat higher prices.
Threat level: The U.S. lost more than 12% of its caged egg-laying hens from Jan. 1 to March 21, according to the USDA.
Yes, but: The bird flu outbreak has vacillated in the last three years and could quickly spike again.
What’s next: This is traditionally one of the highest demand periods for eggs, with eggs playing a big part of Easter traditions and Passover.
This year, Easter is April 20, while Passover starts April 12.
Agricultural Secretary Brooke Rollins warned on March 11 that the Easter season has “the highest price for eggs” and prices could “inch back up.”
The intrigue: Ironically, as egg prices are coming down, coffee prices are poised to spike by double digits, Reuters reports.
Roasters are in talks with retailers about passing on significant price increases after wholesale prices of arabica coffee doubled in the past year.
The USDA’s seasonal Easter egg inventory reports are being discontinued. Photo: Eric Thayer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The USDA will discontinue its Easter season egg inventory reports, just weeks before the spring holiday, as the bird flu continues to ravage the nation’s supply of eggs.
Why it matters: The highly pathogenic avian influenza has intensified in recent months, which has caused prices to spike and led to shortages.
The average price of eggs increased more than 10% in February, federal data shows. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images
Wholesale egg prices are starting to drift lower amid signs that the bird flu is easing, but don’t expect to find lower prices at grocery stores yet.
Why it matters: Even as President Trump is claiming victory, his administration is acknowledging that the upcoming Easter holiday could cause prices to jump again.
Stores are selling out of eggs regularly leading to empty shelves. Photo: Kelly Tyko/Axios
The price of eggs is expected to rise by 41.1% this year as the bird flu continues to rip through the nation’s agricultural economy, the federal government projected in a new report.
Why it matters: That’s more than double the 20% increase predicted in January.
On October 10, 2024, in a concerning decision, Governor Whitmer’s Natural Resources Committee voted unanimously to slaughter all Canada geese removed from Michigan lakes in 2025. This decision was met without any concrete scientific evidence justifying such harsh actions. Moreover, the DNR points the finger of blame at overpopulation but readily disregards the mismanagement of the population for the sake of hunting. In fact, the DNR actually gave a Partner in Conservation Award to Joe Wilbur Johnson for not only bringing in trumpeter swan eggs from Alaska but also the RESIDENT Canada goose into Michigan for the sole purpose of hunting. Similar outrageous actions have been targeted toward mute swans, yet another species that has been tremendously affected by these unsound policies.
The DNR and USDA have slaughtered over 8500 mute swans in Michigan. The Mute Swan kill plan needs to be revisited, especially now that the DNR is planning to gas every NATIVE Canada goose that lake associations, businesses, condo complexes, etc., do not want on their property. The DNR acts like they care about our NATIVE wildlife. They slaughter the swans because they claim they are non-native and are invasive to the Canada goose, and yet the Natural Resources Committee just voted on the USDA and DNR plan to slaughter thousands of NATIVE Canada geese, which are also federally protected, whatever that means. If the swans are so invasive to the geese, why are there so many geese rounded up every year on lakes with swans on them? The swans should have chased them all off if what the DNR is claiming is true.
In addition to signing this petition, please contact Governor Gretchen Whitmer directly and ask her to stop these slaughters and ask for the Michigan based studies and science that warrant these killings: https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/contact
Researchers from Cornell University have released the results of a new study that shows the spread of avian flu has now reached wild bobcats and has also claimed the life of one that was part of the study.
“They’re this cryptic species that we don’t know much about,” said Jennifer Bloodgood, wildlife vet, New York State Wildlife Health Program. “You don’t see them a lot when you’re outside. It was a surprise to us and kind of a warning of what this could mean for their populations.”
Leaders with the state’s Wildlife Health Program, who have found avian flu in other mammals like skunks and squirrels, worked with licensed trappers to sedate and capture 16 bobcats for the study.
Before releasing them back into the wild, researchers placed a GPS-equipped collar on them that eventually falls off, and also collected blood and other biological samples.
“To look at dead and sick animals and look for diseases in those animals to identify potential new diseases or trends in existing diseases,” said Bloodgood.
Researchers noted one of the bobcats died weeks into the study from the virus, after not having been initially exposed at the onset.
The collars of the others were found scattered in areas across the state, including Buffalo and Albany.
“So I think it’s really important to monitor this disease and see what’s going on so that we can protect ourselves and our pets,” said Bloodgood.
Bloodgood advises keeping kids away from dead animals, wearing gloves and a mask before disposing of it or calling the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to report it.
“That lets us know what’s going on in the wild, and whether we should respond or test that animal so we know about more what’s going on,” said Bloodgood.
Core bobcat hotspots across the state continue to be the Adirondack, Catskill and Taconic mountains, yet have also expanded into Central and Western New York, as well as the Southern Tier.
Researchers say the marten, a type of weasel, is next on the list for testing.
On February 24, 2025, the Animal Legal Defense Fund joined nearly 30 public interest groups calling on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to release updated public information critical to tracking and combatting the escalating bird flu outbreak.
This urgent request for the latest information on the bird flu’s spread comes as the Trump administration “accidentally” fired 25% of the federal staffers in the office coordinating the response to the outbreak, yet another of the administration’s sweeping actions over the past few weeks to gut critical government programs.
Over the past month, the CDC has stopped publishing regular reports on its bird flu response activities and has reportedly omitted numerous studies on the outbreak from its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. For weeks the administration also withheld information from the public indicating that house cats may be transmitting the virus to humans.
Avian influenza has surged across the United States since 2022, infecting at least 162 million poultry and wild aquatic birds since the outbreak began. In the past year alone, it has been detected for the first time in several of the country’s mammal species, including cows, goats, pigs and federally protected polar bears. Transmission to cows has caused a multistate outbreak at dairy-farming operations with nearly 1,000 herds affected so far.
People, especially those who live and work in farming communities, are increasingly at risk from the virus as it mutates and evolves. Seventy people are known to have been infected by bird flu during this U.S. outbreak, most of whom were associated with chicken or dairy-farming operations. One patient, who was exposed in connection with a backyard chicken flock, has died.
The virus’s explosive spread at egg-laying operations has caused a shock in the egg supply, driving record-high prices nationwide. In just the past month, more than 21.2 million egg-laying hens have been killed by the virus or culled in response to outbreaks.
The letter was delivered to the CDC by the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Center for Biological Diversity, Better Food Foundation, Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, Center for Food Safety, Chilis on Wheels, Coastal Carolina Riverwatch, Compassion in World Farming USA, Direct Action Everywhere, Earthjustice, Farm Aid, Farm Forward, FarmSTAND, Food Animal Concerns Trust, Food System Innovations, Friends of the Earth, Humane World for Animals, Illinois Stewardship Alliance, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Mercy for Animals, New Roots Institute, North Carolina Environmental Justice Network, Nutrient Density Alliance, Plant Based Treaty, Socially Responsible Agriculture Project, The Transfarmation Project, Winyah Rivers Alliance, and World Animal Protection.
Experience tells us wait for it. 4 more wolves were added to the kill summary total days after the Montana wolf killing season closed on March 15. Yet, the wolves killed are required to be reported within 24 hours. The changing of wolves killed has become the norm in Montana, rather than the exception. After all, they are considered just numbers and not sentient individual vital beings.
As usual, we are looking into it. We highly doubt we will get a straightforward answer, if any.
For the Montana 2024/2025 wolf killing season, this now brings the Total reported killed by shooters and trappers to 294 wolves.
There’s a reason we call them shooters. Real hunters kill what they eat, do not support unfair chase, and adhere to principles of ethical hunting, i.e. know your target and a quick clean kill. Of the total, at least 110 wolves were caught in leghold traps and 9 were snared this season. So about 40% reported killed were by trappers.
This is the 2nd highest number reported wolves killed since they were delisted in Montana over a decade ago. The 2020 season claimed the lives of a minimum of 320 wolves and before war was declared on them in the 2021 Montana legislature.
Thus far, the wolf haters and killers have been successful in passing anti-wolf bills this session via the House and almost exclusively along party lines with only 1-2 and 3, at most, of the 58 Republicans aligning with the 42 Democrats in opposing this amped up war on wolves. Yet, opposing trapping and pro-wildlife values are bipartisan.
We will now see if the Montana Senate has the courage to do the right, ethical, and responsible thing for wolves, wildlife, tourism, our economy, reputation, the majority of Montanans, and kill the bills before them and those upcoming. They need to continue to HEAR from YOU!
The following two bills will be heard in the Senate Fish & Game committee, Tuesday, 3/18. The meeting is scheduled to start at 3:00pm mst.
HB258 Requiring the Extension of Wolf Hunting Season. Sponsor: Rep. Paul Fielder HD14. Requires wolf hunting season end June 15 along with the spring bear season. Therefore, the wolf hunting season would run 9 1/2 months. This will destroy wolves during the whelping period, including newborn, and dependent pups. Amended for a limited quota and bag limit within 15 miles from the border of Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. PASSED House 3rd reading 57:43 on 2/26/25
HB259 Revise Fish & Wildlife Commission Techniques for Gray Wolf Management. Sponsor: Rep. Paul Fielder HD14.
Requires the Commission to eliminate quotas, with single license purchase, and use most aggressive measures, inc. thermal and infrared, to slaughter the most wolves in regions that they occur the most. Amendment to change from “shall” to “may”, failed.
Scheduled for 4/1 in the Senate Fish & Game committee HB554 Remove FWP requirement to reclassify wolves as furbearers or big game. Sponsor: Rep Brandon Ler HD33, Savage. In other words remove wolves from the limited regulations of these other classifications, and classify or treat them like nongame or other “predators” to enable the mass unregulated killing of them. House Fish Wildlife & Parks hearing 2/27/25 meeting. PASSED House 3rd reading 57:42 on 3/6/25
In order to participate with written or verbal comment, you must register under public participation. You can also use this link to your account to have messages delivered to the committee or 5 legislators, e.g. in the Senate.
You must register to speak no later than two hours prior, i.e. before 1:00pm mst, on the day of the hearing.
Plan on stating a 1-2 minute comment and hope that you get to. Be firm, yet respectful. Whether you plan to speak or not, submit your written testimony for the record.
Awaiting executive action aka voting in the Senate Fish & Game:
HB 219 Generally revise hunting laws related to unlawful contest or prize. Sponsor: Rep. Lukas Schubert HD8 Montana’s Wolf Bounty expansion of bounties for wolves to the legal killing of a wolf to those without a wolf license, such as under SB200 and beyond. Waiting executive action in Committee. If passes moves to Senate Floor.
HB176 Amended to allow unlimited wolf hunting quota when population is at or above 550 wolves. Sponsor: Rep. Shannon Maness HD70. The bill requires the continued use of the flawed population model IPOM, but does allow if they so desire an additional population estimator. Waiting executive action in Committee. If passes moves to Senate floor.
Montana has a 6 1/2 month long wolf killing season, i.e., 9/2 – 3/15, and with a court ordered shortened trapping season, i.e. 1/1 – 2/15, in ~ 2/3rd of the state covering West to Central Montana. Wolves, including the young of the year, can be pre-baited, gunned down at night on private land with night vision aides, called in, trapped, snared, left trapped/snared suffering for 48 hours and to draw more wolves in, shot over bait, killed and left to rot afterwards in the field.
In our state, you can kill 20 wolves. The cost is $10-$12 for resident wolf tags. With a mere single $28 license purchase, you can trap/snare 10 wolves. Party trapping is legal. Gang setting unlimited secreted baited traps and snares is legal. A bounty of $750-$1,000/wolf and with no oversight can be collected from an Idaho based organization, who according to their last income tax reporting raised over a million dollars that year.
Still, a handful of special interests and highly empowered by like minded politicians in the Montana 2025 legislature are not satisfied. They are committed to destroying as many wolves as possible and rapidly by extending the 6 1/2-month long season another 3 months to kill wolves and puppies during the whelping period, allow unlimited quotas and with a single tag, thermal and infrared for night hunting, extended bounties and likely prizes, 10-year-olds killing wolves, setup unregulated management, and require a critically flawed population model estimate. Their stopping point is 450 wolves, and just in order to avoid re-listing, they think.
Thank you and do not give up! The heartbreak and frustration are real, but you are not alone! Remember we have a choice, the wolves and indiscriminate victims of this unjust war do not!
FromYour Friends at Trap Free Montana & Trap Free Montana Public Lands
