Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Playa d'en London
Posts: 9855

U.S. Sheep Seized in Mad Cow Scare

March 21, 2001


U.S. Sheep Seized in Mad Cow Scare

By WILSON RING, Associated Press Writer

GREENSBORO, Vt. (AP) - Federal officials on Wednesday seized a flock of sheep feared infected with a version of mad cow disease, the first such seizure of any U.S. farm animals.

Houghton Freeman's flock of 234 sheep is one of two at the center of protests over the Agriculture Department's order last July that they be seized and destroyed. The department says the sheep, imported from Belgium, could be carrying a disease akin to mad cow disease and had quarantined them since 1998.

A lawyer for Freeman who was monitoring the seizure called it ``sad,depressing and a rushed judgment.

``This is so unnecessary,'' said Thomas Amidon, who had hoped the federal government would delay the seizure until after a federal appeals court heard arguments next month.

USDA spokesman Ed Curlett said inspectors arrived shortly after 6 a.m.
Two trucks were loaded by 11 a.m. and left the farm.

The sheep were to be taken to federal laboratories in Iowa so samples can be taken from their brains for study. The animals
will eventually be destroyed.

Curlett said the seizure was the first of any cow or sheep in the United States under suspicion of having an illness related to mad
cow disease.

The second disputed flock, believed to be about 140 sheep, is owned by Larry and Linda Faillace of East Warren. Those animals were to be seized later, and the owners will receive notice the night before the seizure, as Freeman did, Curlett said.

``We assume they're coming tonight,'' Linda Faillace said Wednesday, standing in her small barn surrounded by several dozen
sheep.

She said she felt ``anger, frustration, disbelief,'' and accused the USDA of failing to heed science.

``That's what makes us so angry. USDA builds up public hysteria over a
species that doesn't get the disease,'' she said.

USDA veterinarian Linda Detwiler said the agency stands by its tests.

While the seizure was a first, another flock of 21 sheep from the same family of sheep was voluntarily turned over to government officials last summer by their Lyndonville owner. The sheep were destroyed.

The seizure at the Freeman farm came one day after supporters of the owners held their latest protest, marching to the Vermont
offices of the state's three congressional delegates. All three - Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, Republican Sen. James Jeffords
and independent Rep. Bernard Sanders - have supported the seizure.

``Too little is yet known about this disease, but we do know that it is deadly and that it has the potential to spread quickly, widely and insidiously if not handled early. We wish there was a sound
alternative to the removal of these flocks, but there is not,'' they said in a joint statement last week.

The government says the sheep may have been exposed to mad cow disease through contaminated feed before they were imported from Europe in 1996. The owners say the sheep are healthy and the tests are not conclusive, and they have urged more extensive tests.

After losing their case in U.S. District Court in February, the Faillaces and Freeman appealed and asked that the seizure order
be put on hold until the case had worked its way through the courts.

The circuit court refused to stay the seizure order last week but said it would hear the appeal.

The USDA maintains that four sheep from Freeman's flock showed signs of
transmissible spongiform encephalopathy. That is a class of neurological diseases that includes both bovine spongiform
encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, and scrapie, a sheep disease that is not harmful to humans.

The government says the sheep may have been exposed to mad cow disease through contaminated feed before they were imported from Europe in 1996.

The human version of BSE, which like the animal version has a lengthy incubation period, has killed almost 100 people in Great
Britain since 1995, when it virtually wiped out the British beef industry.

Scrapie has been in the United States since at least 1947, but there are no known domestic cases of mad cow disease. USDA
says destroying the sheep would eliminate them as a possible source of BSE.

BSE has been transmitted to sheep experimentally through the feeding of small amounts of infected cattle brain. Testing to
determine whether the Vermont sheep have scrapie or BSE would take two to three years to complete, USDA says.

http://www.usda.gov/news/releases/2001/03/0051.htm


------------------
never argue with an idiot, they bring you down to their level
and then beat you with experience.

[This message has been edited by urbanjunkie (edited 03-21-2001).]

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Nov 2000
Location: Shillington PA USA
Posts: 269

Here's what I want to know, will the farmers be compensated for the flocks that were seized, or will they just have to deal with it. The US has some stringent import regulations so I'm not sure how they got thru anime quarantine if they were suspect of having "MAD SHEEP DISEASE" in the first place. I feel bad for these poor people, I've never been a sheep farmer but I would expect that 240 sheep aren't cheap.

GS

------------------------
A conclusion is simply the place where you got tired of thinking.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Sedona, Arizona
Posts: 19663

Should we be concerned about either Skapegoat or Goatboy having MSD?
I'm pretty sure that Goatboy has scrapie which of course is harmless to most of us except for the fact that it seems to make him a constant source of irritation.

If these two could have MSD, perhaps we should send their brains in for testing.
We could have a nice wake after the testing is done.

------------------------
Don't argue with me.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jan 2001
Location: Denver
Posts: 20610

At the wake we could have a buffet to keep czechreck happy.

All in all that is pretty scarry, think what'd happen if the US cattle industry went the way of Britains cattle? There'd be a lot of happy vegetarians and pescatarians and some pissed off rednecks about. There'd be rioting at the local Lone-Star steak house!

-m


------------------------
Freedom means taking the bad with the good.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Sedona, Arizona
Posts: 19663

I have noticed the price of cheese has gone wayy up. I wonder if it is connected to all this.

------------------------
Don't argue with me.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Myrtle Beach, SC
Posts: 15181

quote:

---

Originally posted by wonderaz:
I have noticed the price of cheese has gone wayy up. I wonder if it is connected to all this.

---

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Playa d'en London
Posts: 9855

ARE YOU A FARMER (AT THE MOMENT)?

Take the Arthur Thacker Nasty Nasty quiz and see for yourself.


1. How many animals do you own?

a) One, just the pet dog.
b) Couple of budgies and a cat.
c) None. Fuck all. Because they're all fucking dead.

2. What is the most familiar sound of the surrounding countryside where you
live?

a) The dawn chorus or birds in full spring voice.
b) A babbling brook that runs by your living room window.
c) Shotgun fire and bulldozers scraping your entire livelihood into big
holes in the ground.

3. How much money have you got?

a) Just a few thousand in savings and your weekly wage.
b) Not much at all because you're out of work.
c) Fuck all. You're as skint as fuck because you've lost everything.
Snigger.

4. It's a beautiful spring day. What do you to enjoy it?

a) Go out for a lovely stroll to take in the fresh air.
b) Get some rewarding work done in the garden.
c) Take the eight-bore from under the stairs and blow your fucking brains
out because, let's face it, you've got fuck all to live for now, have you?

5. Who is the most frequent visitor to your home?

a) Your mother-in-law who lives two doors away.
b) Your grown up daughter who regularly pops in to see how you are.
c) Half a dozen MAFF men in white suits and a bloke from the abattoir with a
shaved head called Butch.

6. Describe your living room carpet.

a) A deep pile Axminster costing several hundred pounds.
b) Just a cheap one from the local carpet warehouse.
c) Three bales of scattered straw sprayed to fuck with disinfectant.

7. You are suddenly, inexplicably, reduced to floods of tears. Why is this?

a) You've just had some very bad and upsetting news.
b) You've just watched a very sad film and you always cry at sad films.
c) Because you have to stand and watch while all the lovely lambs, piglets
and little calves you hand-reared are taken needlessly out to slaughter.

8. Tell the truth...why are you suddenly, inexplicably, reduced to floods of
tears?

a) Because you really have had some very bad news.
b) Because sad films really do make you cry and you've just watched one.
c) Er...alright, it's because you're not going to make any fucking money at
all this year from slaughtering all those animals you say you care so much
about. You'll lose you house, your wife will leave you, your kids will
starve and you'll be kicked out of the Masons and the local hunt because
they won't have cunts like you who will have to spend the rest of your life
on the fucking dole.

9. What is the most familiar smell of the countryside where you live?

a) The fresh scent of newly-blooming flowers.
b) The evocative aroma of newly-mown grass.
c) The rancid stench of burning carcasses from the herd you've just had
fucking slaughtered.

10. One of your animals is injured or ill in some way. What do you do?

a) Take it to the vet immediately.
b) Take care of it yourself with tender loving care and lots of time devoted
to it.
c) Fuck it. Shoot the cunt. If it can't make you any money what fucking good
is it to you anyway. Fucking disease-ridden piece of shit.

11. Your wife wants some new perfume. Which do you choose?

a) Something expensive like Estee Lauder or Givency.
b) A cheaper brand from the supermarket.
c) A bottle of Domestos and some surgical spirit.

12. You are given 200 gallons of industrial strength disinfectant by the men
from the MAFF to help you in your plight. What do you do with it?

a) Use it accordingly because it's vital that proper levels of sanitation
are maintained right now.
b) Share it among your friends so that everyone benefits.
c) Fuck that. Sprinkle a bit on your wellies, spray some fly killer on a
bale of straw and flog the rest down the market Sunday morning. You
tight-fisted penny-pinching cunt.

13. All the animals you have have been killed and you have lost all your
money, your home and everything else you own. Whose fault is this?

a) No-one's. It's just one of those things.
b) Difficult to say really. There are many contributing factors.
c) Tony Blair's. The cunt. It's got fuck all to do with the fact that you
treat your animals like shit and cut every corner you can to make a fucking
profit, has it? Oh no. It's the government's fault. Nothing to do with you
spreading disease among your own herd because you're a grabbing twat who
couldn't give a flying fuck about animals as long as you make a profit.

14. Your three-year-old daughter's pet hamster isn't very well right now.
What, in your opinion, is the matter with it?

a) Just a cold because hamsters are afflicted with colds during wintertime.
b) You don't know because you're not an expert.
c) Foot and mouth. Fucking must be. So you strangle the little bastard and
torch it with petrol in a frying pan.

15. What is the biggest cause of the spread of diseases among animals?

a) Virulent strains not being kept closely in check.
b) Improper handling of livestock and poor sanitation conditions on farms.
c) People walking in the countryside and car tyres. Fucking hell, aye. They
spread it like fuck they do.

16. The fresh salmon your wife has cooked tastes slightly off. What could be
wrong with it?

a) Perhaps it was a little undercooked.
b) Could be that it was short-dated at the supermarket and not completely
fresh.
c) Foot and mouth. So you pour bleach down your own throat and throw the
rest of your meal on the fire, lock your wife in the cellar and report her
to the MAFF.

17. It's bonfire night. What do you use to start the fire?

a) Some kindling wood and some petrol.
b) Newspapers and old cardboard boxes.
c) A cow's arse, three pigs and a dozen slaughtered sheep.

18. The tropical fish in your tank are showing signs of sluggishness. What
could be the cause of this?

a) The water needs changing and the filter needs cleaning.
b) Nothing. They are always sluggish round this time of year.
c) Foot and mouth. So you fill the tank with Harpic and squash the fuckers
with building bricks before taking a flamethrower to the disease-riddled
cunts.

19. You decide to take your wife out for the night. Where do you go?

a) Down the local pub for a few drinks or a quiet meal, just the two of you.
b) Out to the pictures to see the latest action movie.
c) For a walk down to the front gate. And back again.

20. Your young son is sent home from nursery school feeling unwell. What is
wrong with him?

a) Just a tummy upset, so you put him to bed with some Milk of Magnesia.
b) A cold or perhaps flu, so you give him some Lemsip and wrap him up warm.
c) Foot and mouth. How dare the little cunt bring it home with him. So you
blow his fucking brains out, napalm his arse and bury him twenty feet under
the ground. You're not taking any fucking chances.

ANSWERS:

Mainly a: You're not a farmer (at the moment).
Mainly b: Neither are you.
Mainly c: Yes, you're a farmer right now, aren't you? And tough titties, you
grabbing twat. If you'd looked after your animals properly in the first
place you wouldn't be in this fucking mess. You cunt. Fuck the animals. You
can't fleece every cunt in the nation at extortionate rates by selling your
slaughtered meat, so you shoot them and set fire to the fucking lot, then
whine and whinge about how tight it is to the rest of the country. Well,
we're not fucking arsed, so go and shove the barrel of that shotgun up your
ringpiece and do us all a fucking favour. And good fucking riddance.


------------------------
never argue with an idiot, they bring you down to their level
and then beat you with experience.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Myrtle Beach, SC
Posts: 15181

I think Urbanjunkie's got foot and mouth. He's gotta. So lets torch his ass and bury him 20 feet under.

------------------------
Groovin' in self-pity!
Graphic Cheeseworks.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Dumbfucksville!
Posts: 12164

quote:

---

Originally posted by Roshigoth:
I think Urbanjunkie's got foot and mouth. He's gotta. So lets torch his ass and bury him 20 feet under.

---

I think he's 20 feet under already!!

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Sep 2000
Location: Playa d'en London
Posts: 9855

quote:

---

Originally posted by Roshigoth:
I think Urbanjunkie's got foot and mouth. He's gotta. So lets torch his ass and bury him 20 feet under.

---

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged