The Oasis Sanctuary Reopens
Today, September 22nd 2003, it is our privilege to announce that The Oasis Sanctuary has reopened it's
doors to birds needing life-care placement. Visitors may once again make appointments to come and visit The Oasis.
Since February 10th, 2003 The Oasis has been under a voluntary Quarantine in order to protect the lives
of the almost 400 birds in our care from the Exotic Newcastle's Disease (END) threat which ravaged the western United States.
END was discovered in October of 2002 in poultry farms in Southern California.
It rapidly spread and soon was discovered in nine SoCal counties as well as a small portion of western Arizona, around Las Vegas Nevada, and one outbreak in Texas.
To eradicate this outbreak of the virus, over three million birds living in the effected areas, poultry to parrots, lost their lives when the areas were "depopulated" of birds.
As of September 16th, 2003, the last of the impacted counties were released from government imposed Quarantine and it was deemed that the END outbreak to be over.
Caregivers whose birds were scheduled to come to the Sanctuary last winter before we closed our doors, will of course have priority and should contact us as soon as possible so that we might schedule the intake of their birds.
We already know that a large number of birds are awaiting intake.
We will have to move slowly and carefully during this period to insure we do not overextend and stress our resources .... both financial and material.
The Oasis and the birds we care for were never in imminent danger from this outbreak of this disease.
We have always used utmost care in medically testing incoming birds, assessing the animals and using whatever quarantine procedures needed to insure the continuing health of The Oasis flock. However we have learned a great deal about biohazard security in the past year. As a result we have upgraded the biosecurity measures we use at the Sanctuary. Certain disinfecting procedures instituted during the past year .... foot baths, vehicle disinfecting and such, will remain a normal part of Oasis protocols.
While this outbreak of END may be over (it seems to reappear every decade or so,) there are and will always be biohazards which we will continue to attempt to keep from our doors.
We wish to thank our members and donors who continued to support The Oasis birds during this frightening period of time. We will now need to upscale and upgrade our ability to care for a once again growing number of birds needing lifecare at our facility.
Your help is appreciated. Your continuing support is, as always, needed. To help financially, donations can be made directly on line through our secure website at www.the-oasis.org or by sending contributions to the business office:
The Oasis Sanctuary
PO Box 30502
Phoenix AZ 85046
Goods such as feed stuffs, towels and toys can now safely be sent to the site location:
The Oasis Sanctuary
5411 N. Teran Road
Benson AZ 85602
To make arrangements to visit please contact Sybil by e-mail at oasis@the-oasis.org or by calling 520-212-4737
The Oasis relies on you for support, so why not
donate now?
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Last Modified: April 25, 2008 17:23 MST
