CSU Bird Experimenter to Face Protest at Arbovirology Annual Meeting
PETA Supporters Will Call For End to Gregory Ebel’s Torment of Wild Birds in West Nile Virus Studies
For Immediate Release:
November 19, 2019
Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382
Carrying signs proclaiming, “Curiosity Killed the Crow” and “Stop West Nile Virus Test,” PETA supporters wearing crow masks will descend on the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Annual Meeting—where notorious Colorado State University (CSU) lead experimenter Gregory Ebel is scheduled to speak—on Wednesday to call for an end to his deadly experiments on crows, robins, and sparrows.
When: Wednesday, November 20, 9:30 a.m.
Where: Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, 201 Waterfront St. (at the intersection with Fleet Street), National Harbor
Ebel traps the birds in the wild, infects them with West Nile virus, and kills them. Infected birds develop a fever and anorexia and have difficulty controlling their bodily movements. Some species—including crows—experience systemic infections followed by multiple organ failure and death. In response to a PETA complaint, Colorado Parks and Wildlife cited and fined Ebel and suspended his license after he trapped 37 American crows last year without the required state permit.
“Ebel can travel around the country pontificating, but the birds enduring prolonged deaths at CSU will never again return to their homes in the wild,” says PETA Vice President Dr. Alka Chandna. “PETA is demanding an end to these pointless and cruel experiments, which don’t even purport to seek a vaccine or cure for West Nile virus in birds or humans.”
PETA also sent a cease and desist letter to CSU over the university’s practice of hiding and deleting comments and posts on its Facebook page that criticize the experiments—a violation of free speech under the First Amendment.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
