Man living with 20 ducks in his house infected with bird flu: ‘Begged these men not to kill his cattle’

Alan Gosling, 79, of Buckfastlay in Devon, in the far southwest of the UK, is a retired railway worker and bird lover. So big that the man took 20 ducks, part of a large flock that lives near his house, as pets.

Just before Christmas, the various birds seemed sick. Tests conducted by local health authorities showed that many animals were infected with bird flu. So all the animals were culled on New Year’s Day as a precaution. To Gosling’s horror, his daughter told local media, he “begged those men in their protective suits not to kill his birds.” “They were his best friends. The past few weeks have been hell.”

On top of that, Gosling himself was found infected with the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu virus, forcing him to live in isolation. “We can’t comfort him,” said his daughter-in-law.