Culling of wildlife to control disease - whether bovine TB, avian flu, or other conditions - raises complex ethical and welfare questions that require careful case-by-case analysis.
Disease culling creates a difficult ethical tension between the welfare of culled animals, the welfare of animals that would otherwise contract the disease, and economic interests. The killing method matters enormously - well-executed shooting is faster and less distressing than gas killing in poultry flocks, though the latter is more commonly used at scale. Pre-culling herding of poultry causes significant acute stress. The precautionary culling of apparently healthy animals creates welfare cost against uncertain benefit. Evidence for the efficacy of culling should be rigorously assessed before large-scale welfare costs are imposed.