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Case Studies and Articles Latest |
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9 Mar 2013, 8:16 PM
Bovine TB and cattle vaccination - Rethink bTB's submission to EFRA read more...
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9 Mar 2013, 8:07 PM
The following is the formal response submitted to EFRA by farmers who own a 48ha farm in Gloucestershire and have kept beef cattle since the 1980's in a TB 'hot-spot'. The business has included a commercial beef and calf rearing unit but the herd has never been under TB2 restrictions. It makes some excellent points and is well worth reading. It has been reproduced here with permission from the farmers. read more...
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15 Jan 2013, 8:33 PM
TB Health Check Wales was a zero tolerance policy aimed at TB testing all cattle in Wales. It was introduced on October 2008 and ran to the end of December 2009. It was a test of all cattle herds in Wales over a 15 month period 'to provide a more accurate picture of the disease'. According to Gwlad, Bovine TB Special Edition Summer 2010 the campaign is costing some £27.7 million ( with funding from EU). With the increased testing an increasing number of positive and inconclusive animals were identified and slaughtered since the programme began. The costs continued to escalate, as did the hardship to cattle owners suffering continuous testing and herd breakdowns. read more...
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8 Jan 2013, 5:54 PM
The Republic of Ireland has been culling badgers since the 1980s and it is understood there was national culling from 1997. Between 1996 and 2006 about 4,000 badgers were culled each year. Most are caught using snares and then shot. One study, known as the Four Areas Project, alleges reductions in cattle TB incidence ranging from 51% to 68% over a five-year culling period. The information is being used to help support badger culling in England. Culling is still underway. However, one vet, formerly practising in Donegal, is questioning the claims being made. He believes perturbation is a much bigger threat than we are being led to believe. He is concerned that Ireland has officially denied any perturbation at all. read more...
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14 Dec 2012, 6:09 PM
In December 2012 a farmer from Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, an alleged bTB hot spot area and venue for one of the infamous pilot badger culls next year, was taken to court for offences relating to bTB controls. The fraud offences could be summarised as deliberate swapping of identities of TB reactor cattle with healthy livestock; retaining the reactor animal and producing milk from it; and in one case having a calf born to a reactor cow. read more...
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25 Nov 2012, 4:50 PM
BOVINE TB ERADICATION STRATEGY - Strengthening the eradication programme and new ways of working. The ANIMAL WELFARE GROUP has submitted an interesting representation to the Government's new Animal Health and Welfare Board. As it contains some useful and interesting information we are setting it out in fu read more...
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3 Nov 2012, 3:48 PM
There are an increasing number of alpacas being dragged into the system, many are pets. The owners are coerced into having them tested using the skin and blood tests that seem to be even more imperfect for this species than they are for cattle. Many alpacas are being slaughtered after testing positive to the badger Brock TB stat pak. There are no alterations to this test assay other than camelid blood. They are then found to have absolutely no sign of bTB, either at post-mortem or following tissue culture. This is the distressing story of one owner and her alpacas. read more...
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20 Oct 2012, 7:44 PM
Farmers want vaccination for their cattle, not badger culls. Despite losing more than half their valuable organic herd of beef cattle, a Devon farming partnership is against the badger cull. Instead they want a 'vaccine that works.' read more...
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15 Oct 2012, 5:50 PM
Dave Purser owns a 48ha pasture farm in Glos. He comes from a local farming family and has kept his own cattle since the 1980′s in a TB ‘hot-spot’. The business has included a commercial beef and calf rearing unit but the herd has never been under TB2 restrictions. Here he gives his views on the bovine TB problems. read more...
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13 Oct 2012, 6:48 PM
Steve Jones has 35 years of experience working within a diverse range of livestock enterprises; from small to medium sized units to large scale agri-business within various locations around the globe. He is trained in organic milk and meat production and have extensive practical and theoretical knowledge in all aspects of the industry including: calf rearing; hoof trimming; herd health; cattle breeding and day to day management at the highest level. He has managed some of the highest yielding dairy herds in the world while attaining consistent levels of hygiene and disease resistance within the livestock under my control. He is also a qualified lecturer in rural and environmental studies. read more...
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Bovine TB blamed for neglect of cattle and other animals |
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23 Sep 2011, 6:34 PM
On 22 September 2011 Mold Magistrates Court dealt with a case brothers, Gareth and Kenneth Jones, of Wern Fawr Farm, Caerwys. The two farmers (brothers) involved had apparently bought too many cows and could not afford to feed them and ‘a number of cows’ had died as a result of malnutrition. The brothers were prosecuted by the council for failing to provide an appropriate diet for the cows, a dry bedding area for animals and suitable accommodation for sheep.
The judge heard that the brothers were unable to sell their cows at anything other than a considerable loss because of bovine TB ‘lockdown’ restrictions, but they could not afford to feed them all.
Sentencing both, district judge Andrew Shaw said the pair, who are third generation farmers, had failed to make what should have been ‘a very easy decision’ last March. The pair had spent thousands of pounds on new cattle to boost their dairy farm business, but when Flintshire animal welfare officers visited the farm they found malnourished and emaciated cows as well as poorly kept sheep.
The judge said: “You had been farming the land fairly successfully for many years. You were trying to make the farm more successful when you bought more animals in October 2008. Then you faced a dilemma which you should not have struggled with.” He added: “You should have sold them because you had to feed them. That is not difficult and it should have occurred to you both. There is no doubt that animals suffered and some died because of this.”
The brothers were given a community order, which requires them to stay indoors at their home between 9pm and 5am – Gareth Jones for four months and Kenneth for two months. Both are to be fitted with electronic tags and they were ordered to pay £6,500 each in prosecution costs.
Gareth Jones, 55, was handed a harsher sentence because Judge Shaw said he held the main responsibility for running the farm due to his 49-year-old brother’s ill health.
The judge said imposing a prison sentence would be ‘catastrophic’ for both the family and business. They escaped a ban on keeping animals. The judge said he would not stop the brothers keeping animals because it would destroy their livelihood, adding: “It is likely you will be the subject of regular inspections from now on, and you should use your common sense and welcome that. Your plight is going to be extremely difficult in the coming months and you should take advantage of any support you can.”
Information from http://www.flintshirechronicle.co.uk/flintshire-news/local-flintshire-news/2011/09/23/flintshire-farmers-neglect-led-to-death-of-cows-51352-29473802/#.TnxPl5eGrq8.twitter
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