EASTPORT, N.Y. – Early Sunday morning, April 29, at the Cornell University Duck Research Laboratory in Eastport, N.Y., trespassers forcibly entered an animal-holding area and removed 247 Pekin ducks. The trespassers vandalized portions of the facility by spray-painting slogans that identified them as the Animal Liberation Front (ALF).

Cornell University and the staff of the Duck Research Laboratory are troubled by this incident because of the potential for the trespassers to contaminate these very susceptible animals with disease-causing bacteria and viruses frequently found in wild birds. The Duck Research Laboratory is dedicated to the production, testing and distribution of vaccines used to protect the domestic duck population. Over 15 million doses of vaccine were made and distributed from the lab last year. The efficacy of these vaccines must first be proven to satisfy rigid U.S. Department of Agriculture standards. This requires vaccination of disease-free ducks and later challenging them with the disease agent to demonstrate protective immunity associated with the vaccine.

In order to conduct these tests, disease-free, unvaccinated (and thus highly susceptible) birds are used. It was precisely these ducks that were stolen. We are concerned for their safety and the safety of all other ducks on the premises that may have been inadvertently exposed to infectious agents by the intruders. All testing procedures and animal-handling procedures used at the lab are reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Cornell University.

We note that this incident took place during World Week for Animals in Laboratories, an international week of protest by the animal rights community. We find it ironic that a laboratory devoted to the protection of animals from infectious disease was targeted for protest, and we deplore the reckless tactics used by these protestors, which may lead to illness and death of many susceptible birds.