Have your say, w/e 25 May, 2001

Rumour has it that after the General Election, all cattle in Cumbria and Dumfries & Galloway will be culled – foot-and-mouth disease to be reintroduced by Government perhaps?

Apparently, the bulk of the slaughter teams have been paid off, but have been told they will be required on 11 June i.e after the General Election.

Theres no smoke without fire.

Whats going on?

Any truth in the above?

JM

johnandjake@hollee.freeserve.co.uk

A spokesman from the Welsh farmers union calls for assurances that the decision not to cull is based on good science.

Quite the reverse is true. It is the cull policy itself which is based on bad science.

Please be aware that the contigious cull is neither legal, nor does it have any value in controlling the disease. The man who instigated it, Prof Roy Anderson, is niether a vet nor a foot-and-mouth expert.

Virtually all the top foot-and-mouth experts have spoken out publicly to criticise the policy, saying the computer programme on which it is based used flawed data.

Contrary to popular belief, the O strain of foot-and-mouth is not the most infectious strain; it would take a group of 100 sheep all showing symptoms at the same time to effect an aerosol spread of 200 metres.

Why then is the cull zone set at 3km? In my opinion it has more to do with clearing farmers from the land than controlling the disease.

Remember, the cull is illegal; this is why MAFF always backs down before attempting an injunction. If they went to court and lost the legal precedent would be set, no more contigious culls.

Instead they prefer to use what amounts to threats and emotional and financial blackmail to force farmers to give in.

If you are not sure of your rights, visit the farmtalking website.

There is a helpline number if you simply need sme one to talk to, they can also put you in touch with a solicitor who has experience in stopping the culls, non of the farms saved so far have subsequently gone down with foot-and-mouth.

There is also a discussion board read by anti-MAFF protestors all over the country, including those who succefully picketted the Lloyds farm and prevented MAFF from entering.

If there is to be any farming industry left in this country we must fight this madness.

All it takes for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing.

Andrew Byron

andrew@elmsfarm.freeserve.co.uk

This scheme has failed disastrously due to the sheer scale of the foot-and-mouth problem and the resulting, inevitable bureaucratic congestion.

We have clearly seen that the system of livestock breeding, rearing and marketing which is established in this country is ethically insupportable.

We have seen the most appalling cruelty and suffering become so commonplace and widespread that it has ceased to be newsworthy.

The restriction of movement orders have forced many stockmen and women to see their animals suffer appallingly and in many cases die.

People who care about animal welfare must act to ensure that this nightmare scenario can never be repeated.

The NFU has a position of responsibility and it must do all it can to ensure that such a crisis can never become so widespread in the UK again.

The export of live animals for slaughter, moving animals great distances within the UK and the continuing reduction in the number of slaughterhouses around the country will leave us vulnerable to another unmanageable outbreak at any time.

The NFU has a moral duty to lead a campaign along the lines of the campaigns set up by the RSPCA or Compassion in World Farming, both of which put animal welfare at the centre of their recommendations.

They must use their powerful voice to help bring about the necessary, fundamental changes which will ensure many of their members will never have to go through such a living hell again.

Peter Telfer,
51 Mill Street,
Diglis,
Worcester WR1 2NQ

peter@teltowers.screaming.net

A new name still leaves the same incompetnet people doing the same job, from the same office, behind the same desk. It will not change a thing calling them something different.

Well done Mr Blair, nice try.



trewmatt@bishopb-college.ac.uk

Only 840 submitted? Come on, farmers, get into the 21st century.

Richard Rainford,
Catchdale Moss Farm

richard@rainford.com

I have choosen to investigate the social impact that the
foot and mouth crisis has had on our rural communities, and the ways in which our personal losses have been both represented and ignored.

I would be happy to hear from other farmers, hunt staff and small businesses that have experienced culls, infections and loss of business.

As part of a rural community in Glouscestershire that has been hit very hard by the foot and mouth epidemic, it is a topic that is very close to me.

I hope that my work may be used to raise awareness at the seriousness of the personal grief of everyone involved in the countryside.

Please email me and voice your views on how these very personal losses have been presented and hidden by both officials and the media.

Thank you, my thoughts are with you all at this time and I hope that our solidarity and community spirit can help us survive this disaster.

Emma Burrows

ejb699@soton.ac.uk

I would like to point out that there can be problems at the other end of the scale.

The National Trust is responsible for Rodborough Common near Stroud in Gloucestershire. Due to understocking, the common is slowly being lost to scrub which is leading to significant changes in flora and fauna.

In places thick scrub is replacing grasses, flowers and butterflies. They have introduced belted galloways as a method of keeping down the coarse grasses, but it is too early to pass judgement on the effectiveness of this technique.

I suspect that there is a real danger that deintensification could lead to a swing to fewer stock in many marginal areas, with a resultant loss of management skills, which could make it very difficult to prevent more rapid changes to less appealing habitats.



bryanlewens@btconnect.com