01/06/07
Cases of bovine tuberculosis in Shropshire are rampaging out of
control at the moment, according to local MP Daniel Kawczynski,
raising serious issues of animal welfare as well as threatening
farm livelihoods. He is calling for decisive political action
from the Government’s Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
Mr Kawczynski this week visited the 500 acre dairy and mixed
farm in Westbury at the southern end of his Shropshire constituency
which is farmed by Stuart and Jenny Jones and parents. Mr
Jones contacted his MP this week, after suffering the first case
of bovine TB at his family farm in 51 years. The first
cow to test positive for TB since 1956 was taken away for slaughter
last week, in spite of Hall Farm being a closed dairy herd, with
no cattle being brought in from other farms.
Local vet Benno Veenstra from Stapeley Veterinary Practice in
Minsterley also came to Hall Farm to talk with Mr Kawczynski
and Mr Jones about the TB crisis in the area. He confirmed
that there are currently around 80 new cases of TB being reported
each month in Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire on
farms that have no recent history of TB infections. “TB
is spreading across Shropshire,” said Mr Veenstra, “particularly
this year, it has never been so bad in the Rea Valley area.”
Mr Jones told Mr Kawczynski about his concern in the way the
Government are handling the crisis. Paying tribute to the
Shrewsbury Ministry Vets, who removed his infected cow within
two days of notification from the DEFRA regional office at Worcester,
he criticised some areas for taking up to 5 weeks to remove reactors
from infected farms.
He went on to explain, “This is about animal welfare. Infected
cows have to be kept in isolation, which is completely against
their natural instincts, because they are herd animals. They
are suddenly and unexpectedly removed from their peer group.
The cows become extremely distressed when their routine is changed,
which is very upsetting to see and can last many weeks with the
bureaucratic delays that we are facing at the moment. I am also
angry that while we do everything to minimise the risk on our
farm from cattle-to-cattle contamination, nothing is being done
to eradicate the spread from wildlife to cattle.”
The suffering caused by bovine TB reaches beyond the infected
animals to the whole herd, with every animal having to be handled
at least 8 times for the blood tests that are carried out once
a case is found in the herd. Mr Veenstra told Mr Kawczynski
about how the cattle respond to the TB testing, saying that they
soon get to know what is happening to them. They become
able to recognise the vet and show that they are unhappy by shaking
their heads and become difficult to handle as he carries out
the injections and the subsequent readings for the tests. Mr
Jones added that his heavily pregnant cows often abort their
calves during the testing procedure, caused by the stress of
being penned up and handled.
Mr Kawczynski also talked to Mr Jones and Mr Veenstra about
the controversial topic of badger control. Resisted by
wildlife groups, farmers and vets believe that control of sick
badgers is absolutely essential for the welfare of badgers, cattle
and farming families. Mr Veenstra confirmed that 40% of
badgers killed on the roads test positive for TB and a recent
trial removal of badgers in Ireland showed a 42% rate of TB infection.
“The badgers suffer even more than the cattle,” said
Mr Veenstra. “A badger infected with TB will experience
a long and lingering death. Cattle rarely get to the stage
of serious clinical symptoms, because of the programme of testing
and slaughtering infected animals.”
All cattle farmers carry the burden of pre-movement testing
for TB, which means that their animals have to be tested before
being moved off a farm for breeding or rearing elsewhere. With
tests being expensive, as the vet needs to make two visits every
time, this is a heavy financial load for an industry that is
already struggling to make ends meet, with low end prices for
beef cattle and farm-gate prices for milk at an all-time low,
significantly below the cost of production.
Mr Jones believes that this cost to farmers is simply pointless,
as long as infected badgers are able to roam around the fields
bringing TB into the farm. Typically, cows will contract
TB during the summer when they are outdoors and in contact with
infected badgers. Then over the winter, when the herd is indoors
and away from direct contact, the rate of infection will clear,
only to be re-introduced when the cattle return to the fields
in the spring.
Mr Jones urged Mr Kawczynski, who is Chairman of the All-Party
Parliamentary Group for Dairy Farming and a passionate supporter
of his local livestock industry, to put strong pressure on DEFRA
and the Government to take the political decisions needed to
drive through an effective campaign to eliminate bovine TB, saying, “my
grandfather’s generation had a policy to alleviate this
problem, but it seems that we can’t deal with it now. This
needs a political decision right now and we simply cannot wait
for this scourge to spread. I have just lost my best milking
cow and I do not want - and cannot afford - to lose anymore.”
“I will be calling on the Government to take immediate
positive action on bovine TB,” said Mr Kawczynski, who
is on the DEFRA Select Committee that scrutinises the work of
DEFRA. “I am going to challenge Secretary of State
David Miliband and Animal Welfare Minister Ben Bradshaw to take
the necessary decisions to introduce control of badgers to protect
the welfare of both badgers and cattle and to secure the livelihoods
of our cattle farmers.”
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