Effects of outbreak spread far and wide
Effects of outbreak spread far and wide
By Donald MacPhail
INTERNATIONAL rugby, horseracing, mass demonstrations, country pursuits and even zoos are among the knock-on victims of the foot-and-mouth outbreak.
The Six Nations match between Wales and Ireland scheduled for Saturday at Cardiffs Millennium Stadium became a high-profile casualty following Irish government fears that an expected 15,000 supporters would take the disease back with them.
Horseracing meetings became another sporting casualty when the programme was suspended on Wednesday (Feb 28).
Earlier, organisers of the Countryside March, scheduled for March 18 and expected to attract more than 300,000 demonstrators, had announced the postponement of the event.
Organisers, the Countryside Alliance, took the decision to defer the march against government plans to ban foxhunting after concerns over the impact of thousands of people from rural areas coming together at once.
The alliance said 203,000 people have already registered on its hotline (0906 788 1680) and encouraged supporters to continue to do so to demonstrate the level of concern about rural affairs.
On Tuesday farm minister Nick Brown put in place emergency statutory powers enabling local authorities to close footpaths and rights of way where necessary.
This can be enforced in local authority areas where disease has been confirmed, and in other local authority areas with the approval of MAFF.
Farmers who provide public access to their land under MAFF environmental schemes will not be expected to do this during the present situation. These moves, on top of an earlier ban from common land, made Dartmoor National Park a virtual no-go zone for walkers. Walkers are now banned from all rural footpaths in Devon.
Some of the other 10 national parks in England and Wales have already closed car parks and Snowdonia National Park is reported to have issued 20,000 Keep Out signs to help farmers keep walkers off their land.
English Nature and the Countryside Council for Wales, and Scottish Natural Heritage have closed their nature reserves.
The Ramblers Association instructed its 130,000 members to keep out of the countryside, while the countrys one million anglers were told to stay away.
The 70,000-strong Cyclists Touring Club has advised all members to avoid countryside routes and the Camping and Caravanning Club has cancelled all meetings until the end of March.
A number of zoos and safari parks have also closed their gates, fearful that they would have to cull endangered species if foot-and-mouth took hold. *