Page 5 of 12 FirstFirst ... 3 4 5 6 7 ... LastLast
Results 201 to 250 of 597

Thread: Mad Cow, Bird/Swine Flu, Foot and Mouth, E.coli, Salmonella, Ebola, Marburg...

  1. #201

    Default Re: Mad Cow Disease

    i have a question for all of you in the UK - are you allowed to donate your blood? i'm positive the answer is yes.

    but i ask this because i'm not allowed to donate blood in the united states because i resided in england for more than 6 months between the years of....i don't know, i think they say 1981 and 1987 or something. apparantly i may have mad cow disease according to the US blood banks...

    i'm just curious as to if/how the UK approaches the possibility of Mad Cow disease in your blood banks....or if the US is just being kind of paranoid.

  2. #202
    Knolishing Pob's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Sittingbourne
    Posts
    1,523

    Default Re: Mad Cow Disease

    Not much they can do, really, as there wouldn't be any donors if they rejected everyone in the country as possible donors

    But yes, we can still donate blood.

  3. #203

    Default Re: Mad Cow Disease

    it's frustrating for me because i really would like to donate blood, i feel i could help a lot of people, and i really don't think i have mad cow disease! we barely ate any meat while we were there anyway because it was so expensive....but then again, i'd feel really bad if i lied on the forms and then got a bunch of people sick...

    everyone who knows me thinks it's hillarious that the vegan gets rejected because she might have mad cow disease. go figure.

  4. #204
    AR Activist Roxy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    South Australia
    Posts
    4,977

    Default Re: Mad Cow Disease

    Karmadust, Canadian Blood Services have the same rule regarding previous residence in the UK. Isn't there some kind of test they can do to see if you have mad cow disease, or is it one of these diseases that can stay hidden in your system for years?

  5. #205
    Peter pkilcoyne's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Worcester UK
    Posts
    1

    Default Bird Flu

    so the "wonderful" Bernard Mattews has bought Bird Flu in to the UK. Hundreds of thousands of turkeys to be "kulled". Possibly can kill people too. I wish the corpse crucnchers could see that their turkey trwisslers really aren't worth this.
    Last edited by flutterby; Feb 3rd, 2007 at 01:31 PM. Reason: this was the 1st post in a similar thread

  6. #206
    sprite1986
    Guest

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    Is there a link for this specifically, as I notice your post was moved..?

  7. #207
    gertvegan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Bristol, SW England
    Posts
    1,912

    Default Re: Bird Flu


  8. #208
    perfect RedWellies's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Herefordshire, England
    Posts
    1,564

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    Poor birds. It's like foot and mouth all over again. I don't see how they think a wild bird gave it to the turkeys. Surely if a "small bird" had the disease, other wild birds (other than one swan) would be dying by now? I wonder if the turkeys were fed contaminated food?
    "Do what you can with what you have where you are."
    - Theodore Roosevelt

  9. #209
    I eve's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Queensland, Australia
    Posts
    2,210

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    Wild birds carry H5N1 but are unaffected by it. However, in flying around their world, their droppings easily infect chooks and turkeys who do not have the same resistance.
    Eve

  10. #210
    Baby love :) Veryblue2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    North Wales, UK
    Posts
    73

    Default Mass cull due to bird flu at Bernard Matthews farm in Suffolk

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6328889.stm

    Tens of thousands of turkeys are being gassed at a poultry farm in Suffolk in a bid to contain Britain's first mass outbreak of Asian bird flu.
    Last edited by flutterby; Feb 4th, 2007 at 05:04 PM. Reason: this was the 1st post in a similar thread

    Veryblue2

  11. #211
    CATWOMAN sandra's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    The Emerald Isle
    Posts
    2,506

    Default Re: Mass cull due to bird flu at Bernard Matthews farm in Suffolk

    All those little souls! When will humans learn that it is wrong to eat animals, have you ever heard of a virus being spread by vegetables?

  12. #212
    sprite1986
    Guest

    Default Re: Mass cull due to bird flu at Bernard Matthews farm in Suffolk

    Just seen about this on the news, are they actually incinerating the birds to kill them??

    Even if they are killing them individually, no slaughterer person can sustain enough concentration and discipline to kill each bird as efficiently as possible..

  13. #213
    perfect RedWellies's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Herefordshire, England
    Posts
    1,564

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    Quote eve View Post
    Wild birds carry H5N1 but are unaffected by it. .
    I didn't know that. Thanks for the info, Eve.

    Sprite, I think they are being gassed to kill them. Their bodies will be burnt after I expect. Poor things.
    "Do what you can with what you have where you are."
    - Theodore Roosevelt

  14. #214
    Abe Froman Risker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Winchester, England
    Posts
    3,265

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    That's not quite true, they are affected by it but it takes a while so they have time to spread it before they succumb to it.
    "I don't want to live on this planet any more" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth

  15. #215
    I eve's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Queensland, Australia
    Posts
    2,210

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    The evolution of the devastating influenza virus, as well as that of numerous other zoonotic pathogens, stems directly from the proliferation of confinement agricultural systems. Everyone should be concerned about human and animal health and welfare, self-preservation, and justice. Says Dr Marc Siegel, author of author of the new book "Bird Flu: Everything You Need to Know About the Next Pandemic".

    He also responds to the question "How does a bird get it?" as follows:

    It's endemic in birds, especially waterfowl like geese and ducks. It's usually a benign infection of the gastrointestinal or respiratory tracts of waterfowl, and it has existed in birds for many thousands of years. It can pass from wild birds to the poultry on farms when they come into contact, and certain strains, known as pathogenic avian influenza, make these domestic birds very sick. The flu virus mutates frequently, changing its genetics, but it rarely goes through the changes that allow it to routinely infect mammals.

    Birds transmit viruses the same way we do: by sneezing, coughing, and touching other birds.

    Is there a cure once you have it? No.
    Eve

  16. #216
    Punctuation !!'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    151

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    there were just lorryloads of bodies... i also heard on the news they would all be killed "humanely" (I think it was Ch4 last night)... how can you call gassing humane? There's no way to kill humanely, and surely gassing is just awful?

  17. #217

    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    yookay
    Posts
    256

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    I'm just listening the the Jeremy Vine show on Radio 2 and he has had many emails from people who are appalled at the conditions in which the turkeys are kept. The news footage of the farm has opened a lot of peoples eyes to the birds everyday suffering.

    The birds are being gassed. What they're going through doesn't bear thinking about. The only consolation is that no matter how awful it is, it's probably better than the death that awaited them before this. At least they won't be going into scalding tanks whilst fully conscious.

    What's it going to take to make people think about the ethics of their diet?

  18. #218
    Punctuation !!'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    151

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    My housemates were of the shrug shoulder attitude- "what can we do?, it doesn't matter and if I don't see it very often it aint happening!" People will forget next time they're tucking in to a roast...

    So I don't think that this will make people think too hard- they pass the blame on after feeling guilty for a millisecond. Having said that, I do hope it will make people think, and then they'll act on it- so many people are just words...

  19. #219
    sprite1986
    Guest

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    I agree, all my housemates watched it on the news the whole way through without saying anything, and then went to cook their respective dinners involving chickens.


    I just believe that people are so apathetic to anything these days that it is only the minority who try to do something about the issues which bother them. It's pretty disgraceful and certainly disheartening.

    p.s. and ALSO, whilst i'm having a mini-rant, we watched Channel 4's 'Shipwrecked' yesterday (I think), and they had a poorly chicken chick (which someone on the island had found wandering about by itself and subsequently rescued it), which was clearly in a huge amount of pain (couldn't stand up, rapid shallow breathing), and they were obviously going to kill it (I had to leave the room), and my housemates were all going 'awww.. thats horrible', 'poor thing', 'they should take it to the vets' etc etc. AND STILL went and had chicken nuggets...pffft.

  20. #220
    Punctuation !!'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    151

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    Just a little update in the BBC magazine today- 'How they're going to kill the birds' article... made me sad... what's happening to them while they "wait"? They also refer to "getting rid" of the birds... sounds nicer than killing I guess :\

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6331005.stm

    "Firstly, the birds will be gassed. Mobile gas chambers were delivered to the Holton farm over the weekend. All 159,000 turkeys will be placed into crates, "forklifted" into the chambers and gassed to death.

    It is the quickest, most bio-secure and humane method of killing the birds, according to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The process is expected to take several days."

    P.S- I don't think they killed the bird on shipwrecked, I don't think the guy whos pet it was would have let them...
    Last edited by !!; Feb 5th, 2007 at 02:13 PM. Reason: Line Breaks

  21. #221
    sprite1986
    Guest

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    Forklifted into the gas chambers?? That really is horrific, it does remind me slightly of another event that happened last century.. although perhaps with a little less of the forklifting..

    I hardly think that they will be worried about overcrowding when they pack these poor birds into the crates, least of all because I expect the workers just want to have the job done with.

    The only thing I can think of saying is that perhaps they have learnt how best to 'deal' with real and potential outbreaks following analysis of how Foot and Mouth disease was dealt with and producing models. So hopefully by having the 3km protection zones and 10km surveillance zones, the overall loss of life will be kept to a minimum, particularly as hopefully less birds will be slaughtered as precautionary measures.

    What did they do to the little chick then? (I was upstairs, lol).

  22. #222
    Punctuation !!'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    151

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    I do hope no more birds after the BM farm will be forklifted around in to gas chambers, but as we saw with foot and mouth it may raise awareness for a while, but people slip back in to old habits. I think it was more the risk of CJD than the tretment of the cows that worried people- once the hysteria was over and it died down everything was back to normal.

    Predicted hysteria over bird flu: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6330849.stm

    I think the bird on shipwrecked did just die of natural causes (they showed not hint of them killing him), they had a little funeral and everything, it was really sweet- and no-one broached the possibility of eating it, thankfully!

  23. #223

    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    yookay
    Posts
    256

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    "The process is expected to take several days."

    I bet they don't waste any food or water on the birds in the meantime either. The whole thing is sickening.

  24. #224
    Barley's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    South West, UK
    Posts
    173

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    At times like this, I always think that, really, it's a 'better' end for these poor abused creatures - as someone posted earlier, better than being carted off to the slaughter house, questionable stunning, maybe into the scalding tank fully conscious, plucked whilst still conscious - the WORST thing for me is that Bernard f****** Matthews will get fully compensated with tax payers money grrrrrr

  25. #225
    Poppy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Cloud Cuckoo Land
    Posts
    61

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    Quote Barley View Post
    At times like this, I always think that, really, it's a 'better' end for these poor abused creatures - as someone posted earlier, better than being carted off to the slaughter house, questionable stunning, maybe into the scalding tank fully conscious, plucked whilst still conscious - the WORST thing for me is that Bernard f****** Matthews will get fully compensated with tax payers money grrrrrr
    It's not right is it? I suppose if it's bringing into the foreground the conditions these turkeys are kept in it may make some people think about the whole factory farming issue. I was talking to the landlord of our local pub,about factory farming and he said he didn't believe me when I told him that animals are kept in such inhumane, squalid conditions. I said I'd drop him some leaflets off to prove it. Some just don't want to believe it!!!!
    So sorry for the turkeys.
    All of life is a dream walking
    All of death is a going home Chinese saying

  26. #226

    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    cheshire, uk
    Posts
    66

    Default Re: Mass cull due to bird flu at Bernard Matthews farm in Suffolk

    Quote Veryblue2 View Post
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6328889.stm

    Tens of thousands of turkeys are being gassed at a poultry farm in Suffolk in a bid to contain Britain's first mass outbreak of Asian bird flu.
    I know . I dont understand why they cant vaccinate them instead...

  27. #227
    I eve's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Queensland, Australia
    Posts
    2,210

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    Quote !! View Post
    My housemates were of the shrug shoulder attitude- "what can we do?, it doesn't matter and if I don't see it very often it aint happening!" People will forget next time they're tucking in to a roast... So I don't think that this will make people think too hard- they pass the blame on after feeling guilty for a millisecond. Having said that, I do hope it will make people think, and then they'll act on it- so many people are just words...
    You're right !!, not so long ago people were shedding crocodile tears about the poor creatures being burned to death in England. At that time they turned to horsemeat, considered safer than beef. However, time passes, quickly, and now they are all back to eating steak etc. Same with this turkey episode - what will they do next xmas? eat turkey of course. Yes, people are just words.
    Eve

  28. #228
    Punctuation !!'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    151

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6331007.stm has been on the website today, and explains why Turkeys are so popular for factory farming (as a reaction to the bird flu articles I'd imagine):

    "But turkey had some important factors in its favour, says Mr Day. Easy to rear, particularly, when compared to goose, indoors; cheap to feed and able to "put on a fantastic amount of weight quickly", turkey lent itself well to the emerging techniques of factory farming." and "Turkeys became the protein factories of the 1960s and 70s. Breeders tried to develop new strains to put on more breast meat."

    Surely, surely people will see (even though this article is along the vien of "wahey, turkey, yum! organic turkey is great") how the mass production of meat is just wrong?! And the mass slaughter due to bird flu shouldn't have happened in an ideal world? I think the BBC are trying to push that everything's OK and to keep eating it- I don't know what anyone else will make of this article, but that's my take on it...

  29. #229
    gorillagorilla Gorilla's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Sussex, UK
    Posts
    3,925

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    i was pleased to see the local paper here today has an almost full-page article by a vegetarian journalist (Adam Trimingham) writing about bird flu. i particularly liked his concluding paragraphs:

    "Brighton in particular, and Sussex in general, is seeing a big rise in the number of people who do not eat meat at all.
    I am among them and have been for many years. It seems extraordinary that any society could consider itself civilised when it kills animals so that they can be eaten.
    I firmly believe that in 50 years or so, the practice will be regarded in much the same way as we condemned sending Victorian children up chimneys to sweep them.
    This outbreak of bird flu, although distressing, will have done some good if it persuades more people not to eat birds produced by conveyor-belt methods...it will be even better if millions of people decide not to eat meat."
    'The word gorilla was derived from the Greek word Gorillai (a "tribe of hairy women")'

  30. #230
    gorillagorilla Gorilla's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Sussex, UK
    Posts
    3,925

    Angry Bird Flu firm gets compensation

    Bird flu firm gets compensation

    More than 160,000 of Bernard Matthews' birds were slaughtered
    Bernard Matthews will get £589,000 compensation for the birds compulsorily slaughtered to prevent the spread of bird flu, Defra has said.
    More than 160,000 birds were killed after an outbreak of the virulent H5N1 strain of the disease on a farm owned by the firm in Suffolk in February.

    The company said it always maintained biosecurity standards, and had taken steps to enhance measures.

    The Conservatives have criticised the decision to award compensation.

    Meat importation

    Commons leader Jack Straw has also said MPs are uncomfortable at the "high levels of compensation" awarded to the company. The payout for healthy birds killed was announced in Defra's final epidemiology report into the avian flu outbreak.

    Officials say compensation is provided under the Animal Health Act 1981 to encourage early reporting of bird flu to minimise the spread of the disease. If the disease is allowed to spread it would cost taxpayers much more, they add.

    The report analyses all the possible ways the virus could have arrived at the farm in Holton. No specific proven source has been found but the reports says the most likely explanation is that the infection came from the importation of turkey meat from Hungary.

    Low risk

    In response to the report, Bernard Matthews said it had "undertaken rigorous internal investigations and audits" in the wake of the outbreak. Commenting on the findings, Chief Veterinary Officer Debby Reynolds said: "Most potential routes of infection are controlled through current procedures.

    "However, the outbreak in Suffolk appears to be the outcome of a series of normally low probability events and circumstances which cumulatively led to the introduction of disease."

    She said the report was an important part of increasing the understanding of bird flu. There was a continuous low level risk of the introduction of avian flu to the UK, she added.

    Commons debate

    The National Emergency Epidemiology Group produced the report in consultation with the European Commission and Hungarian authorities. Animal Health Minister Ben Bradshaw praised what he described as a "comprehensive report".

    He said: "Although we cannot be sure how the outbreak happened, this episode reflects the need for constant vigilance, high levels of biosecurity and robust and well-developed contingency planning in dealing with animal disease outbreaks."

    Mr Straw said in the Commons: "Of course we'll look for an opportunity to debate this, and all of us are uncomfortable about the reports of high levels of compensation paid to Mr Matthews' firm."

    Insufficient evidence

    Shadow Environment Secretary Peter Ainsworth told the Commons that many people would be "astonished" that no-one was being prosecuted for what he called a "serious breach of biosecurity".

    He said it was time to look again at the rules covering the import of poultry meat.

    Junior Environment Minister Barry Gardiner responded that the government had been praised for its handling of the outbreak, including by the former Conservative Agriculture Minister John Gummer.

    A report on the lessons learned from the outbreak will be released later this year.

    Following an investigation the Food Standards Agency has said there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of a conviction.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6571157.stm
    'The word gorilla was derived from the Greek word Gorillai (a "tribe of hairy women")'

  31. #231
    gertvegan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Bristol, SW England
    Posts
    1,912

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    Animal Aids response can be read here.

  32. #232
    flying plum's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    London, UK
    Posts
    690

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    I can't believe that man has been given compensation for his own failures at checking sanitation and health of the birds he slaughtered.

    He shouldn't have been afforded a penny for his negligence, and I hope this is taken to judicial review.

    amanda

  33. #233
    Kevster
    Guest

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    I can believe it, it's set out in the ludicrously named Animal Health Act (1981). It is true that our enlightened political leaders feel that Uncle Bernard shouldn't have been compensated £600,000 which poor old Mr B, will feel is a little short, as he has lost quite a bit of business from the scare.

    But lets face it the animal abuse industries whether it be farming or vivisection are underwritten by 'our' government and then the taxpayer.
    It fits in well with our society. Still, there are all sorts of things we can hardly believe, but unfortunately they happen to be true.

    Denial of our present political situation is big business these days. You can practically sell self delusion and you can certainly teach it.

  34. #234
    gertvegan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Bristol, SW England
    Posts
    1,912

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    Bird flu case confirmed at farm

    A case of bird flu has been confirmed after the death of chickens at a farm in Conwy.

  35. #235
    Kevster
    Guest

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    'Four test positive for bird flu

    Four people have tested positive for a mild strain of bird flu which was first detected at a north Wales smallholding, the Health Protection Agency has said. [...]'

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6693901.stm

  36. #236
    Kevster
    Guest

    Default Re: Bird Flu

    'Avian flu found at smallholding

    A low-risk strain of bird flu has been found at a smallholding near St Helens in Merseyside.

    A restriction zone has been placed around the area following the positive tests for the disease.

    Some of the infected chickens had been bought from a market held in Chelford that was associated with a recent bird flu outbreak in north Wales.

    All the farm's birds, including peacocks, have been culled. The strain is not thought to pose a human risk.

    Low pathogenic avian influenza typically causes little or no clinical symptoms in infected birds. [...]'

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/m...de/6732591.stm

  37. #237
    Abe Froman Risker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Winchester, England
    Posts
    3,265

    Default Foot and mouth disease found in cattle on farm

    LONDON (Reuters) - Foot and mouth disease has been confirmed in cattle on a farm in Surrey, the government said on Friday.

    The agriculture department, Defra, said in a statement all movements of pigs and ruminant animals such as cows had been banned nationwide. The virus was found in cattle on a farm near Guildford, close to London.

    http://uk.reuters.com/article/UKNews...37131720070803
    "I don't want to live on this planet any more" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth

  38. #238
    sprite1986
    Guest

    Default Re: Foot and mouth disease found in cattle on farm

    I came in earlier and caught the end of this. This is terrible, but I hope that the number of animals slaughtered should be minimised, with the spread just confined to this particular farm, assuming that lessons have been learnt from how the last catastophic outbreak was dealt with. Such a ridiculous loss of life though.

    *fingers crossed*

  39. #239
    Cider&Curry :D Frosty's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Staffordshire, England
    Posts
    697

    Default Re: Foot and mouth disease found in cattle on farm

    News at Ten showed loads of images from the 2001 outbreak, it was horrific. I lived back home in rural Staffordshire at the time and could see clouds of smoke coming from the fields near my house Apparently they're going to put down the animals in a 'more humane' way this time round. Not sure what that is going to be though...?
    I like football. And potatoes.

  40. #240
    sprite1986
    Guest

    Default Re: Foot and mouth disease found in cattle on farm

    Hopefully not as humanely as they did when they gassed all those Bernard Matthew incarcerated turkeys..

  41. #241
    emoticonaddict Spud Addict's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Naaaarfolk UK
    Posts
    382

    Default Re: Foot and mouth disease found in cattle on farm

    I wish they'd put some sort of warning on the news when they're going to show pictures of a digger piling carcasses into a truck.

    I guess they don't think people really care what happens to a few sheep.

  42. #242

    Default Re: Foot and mouth disease found in cattle on farm

    Cue farmers being upset at having to kill their herds a few weeks/months early.
    Bad business.

  43. #243
    cobweb
    Guest

    Default Re: Foot and mouth disease found in cattle on farm

    ^ exactly, farmers get their bloody compensation anyway

    It really annoyed me last time, all these flesh eaters moping about saying how awful it all is. You would think it might even make people think about what they are actually eating, what they are actually causing - but of course it doesn't because most people are fairly moronic and very hypocritical .

  44. #244
    Knolishing Pob's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Sittingbourne
    Posts
    1,523

    Default Re: Foot and mouth disease found in cattle on farm

    On the positive side, live exports will be stopped for a while.
    "Danger" could be my middle name … but it's "John"

  45. #245
    Kevster
    Guest

    Default Re: Foot and mouth disease found in cattle on farm

    Apparently the strain of foot and mouth from this outbreak may have come from a research laboratory located close by....

    Anyway, saw this on the bbc news site, this is so crazy. Amazing that people help create the situations that they are so horrified by.

    'A slaughterman's story

    Gordon Nixon saw enormous suffering caused by foot-and-mouth when he was a slaughterman in the north-east of England during the 2001 epidemic.

    He told the BBC News website how all the horrors he saw have come flooding back with the news of the Surrey outbreak.

    I have seen first-hand the heartbreak and devastation caused by foot-and-mouth disease. I now receive treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder as well as taking anti-depressants.

    I was just begining to make progress, I have been seeing a counsellor for the past few months.

    Seeing all these pictures again, I can hardly bear it. I feel like I'm back at square one.

    I was the only slaughterman to be employed by Defra for the whole year and I was the only slaughterman to be based at a burial site.

    The farmer begged me not to kill him, but I had to

    I was good at my job and I was compassionate. This meant I quickly earned myself a reputation as one of the good guys. As a result, I was sent to more farms than any of my colleagues.

    I culled 53 farms and put 48,000 carcasses into Tow Law burial site.

    I've been physically attacked by a female farmer, I've witnessed grown men break down, I've broken down myself.

    On one occasion, I had just finished a cull. I went into the barn and then I heard something rustling. I looked up and saw a terrified calf in front of me.

    The farmer begged me not to kill him, but I had to. I reported it to the vet and then I had to shoot him.

    That calf haunts me every night.

    Another time, I could tell a farmer was about to lose control, he was standing in front of me actually stroking a bumblebee.

    I went over to him and suggested he go and get a cup of tea.

    "Cup of tea?", he said to me. "I haven't eaten for three days".

    Later that day, he put a shotgun to his head. I had to call the police to have him restrained.

    'Not just tough guys'

    Seeing the pictures on television has brought it all flooding back. I haven't been able to watch today. I can't even try to explain the suffering this is going to cause.

    There would be eight or nine trailors piled high with sheep and cattle. It was my job to physically check them for signs of life.

    Once I found a sheep that I knew was part of my cull from the night before. He had come back to life and been at the bottom of a pile of 300 carcasses.

    People who say foot-and-mouth disease doesn't affect humans have no idea

    People think slaughtermen are big tough guys, we're not. I'm 6ft 2in and 17 stone but I'm still human and I care.

    The thing that hurts me most is that farmers were just begining to rebuild their lives.

    The people who say foot-and-mouth disease doesn't affect humans have no idea what they are talking about.

    It's ruined my life. I don't live anymore, I exist.'

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/6931324.stm

  46. #246

    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    yookay
    Posts
    256

    Default Re: Foot and mouth disease found in cattle on farm

    Quote horselesspaul View Post
    Cue farmers being upset at having to kill their herds a few weeks/months early.
    Yes, the poor loves. The compensation will soon make them feel better though.

  47. #247
    Abe Froman Risker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Winchester, England
    Posts
    3,265

    Default Re: Foot and mouth disease found in cattle on farm

    Quote Kevster View Post
    The farmer begged me not to kill him, but I had to
    I thought it was a joke when I read that.
    "I don't want to live on this planet any more" - Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth

  48. #248

    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    yookay
    Posts
    256

    Default Re: Foot and mouth disease found in cattle on farm

    Quote Kevster View Post
    Apparently the strain of foot and mouth from this outbreak may have come from a research laboratory located close by
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6931858.stm

  49. #249
    75% Chickpea Cumin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    I can see Wales from here
    Posts
    460

    Default Re: Foot and mouth disease found in cattle on farm

    Did anyone else see this comment on the "Have your say" section of the BBC site? What do you think of it?

    --------
    John Gallagher, while I accept that we CAN eat anything to survive, I think the implication was that in these times it may be a wiser CHOICE to be veggie. On top of the health scares & welfare issues did you know that around 45% of grains worldwide are fed to livestock. This livestock then converts these calories from grain, suitable for humans, into animal calories for humans at an efficiency of approx 2.5%! Great apes have canines & get 90+% of calories from plants. Reduce meat if not full veg
    vegan for the humans, London
    ---------
    How good it is to be well-fed, healthy, and kind all at the same time. Henry J. Heimlich

  50. #250
    Purple's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Guildford
    Posts
    177

    Default Re: Foot and mouth disease found in cattle on farm

    Been away, so a bit behind on the news.

    Was about to post the Beeb link but you guys did it.

    I find this part rather horrible
    "Once I found a sheep that I knew was part of my cull from the night before. He had come back to life and been at the bottom of a pile of 300 carcasses."


    But I find this part mildly amusing, because the quote was taken completely out of context and I wondered what was going one!!

    "
    The farmer begged me not to kill him, but I had to"

    *imagines farmer on knees crying whilst slaughterman has a breakdown*

Similar Threads

  1. E. coli and sprouts
    By Mzee in forum Raw vegan?
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: Aug 24th, 2011, 11:52 AM
  2. Sore foot
    By Back-Space in forum VEGAN HEALTH
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: Dec 19th, 2010, 03:59 PM
  3. Foot odour remedies?
    By Vegan-Rock in forum VEGAN HEALTH
    Replies: 19
    Last Post: Aug 24th, 2007, 07:29 PM
  4. UK: Hummus/salmonella warning
    By harpy in forum UK
    Replies: 53
    Last Post: Mar 5th, 2007, 09:56 PM
  5. E. coli
    By Seaside in forum VEGAN HEALTH
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: Sep 24th, 2005, 09:21 PM

Tags for this thread (If you see one or more tags below, click on them if you're looking for similar threads!)

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •