Suspected foot & mouth outbreak

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Suspected foot & mouth outbreak - false alarm
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moonwind

Joined: 10 Sep 2006
Posts: 1140

Posted: Sat Oct 28, 06 4:08 pm Post subject:

Does that mean Cheale meats are now in the clear or are they still they Devil incarnate?

Sorry, it just made me smile that people are in an instant ready to "jump" on the person or place where "something" happens (or does not happen as in this case.

It seems to be a human peculiarity of which we are all guilty of from time to time.

Why do you think it is that we need something to kick and someone to blame imediately something happens, or even before something happens, rather than wait until some facts come out?

Not knocking anyone here, but it is just an interesting thing that we seem to do as humans.

In the case of the above, I would guess feelings would be driven by fear, especially from anyone who was dorectly or indirectly affected by happenings of the last FMD outbreak

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46209
Location: yes

Posted: Sat Oct 28, 06 4:35 pm Post subject:
with fmd etc we should take no chances ,it would seem the inspectors did a fine job in checking a potential problem and clearing things up rapidly .

moonwind

Joined: 10 Sep 2006
Posts: 1140

Posted: Sat Oct 28, 06 4:46 pm Post subject:

dpack wrote:

with fmd etc we should take no chances ,it would seem the inspectors did a fine job in checking a potential problem and clearing things up rapidly .

I agree absolutely, it was just that we, as humans, seem to want to blame or demonise someone or something before the facts are out, rather than just (in this case) shudder inwardly and pray that a negative would come out of this.

Just interested in why we do it, we all do but what makes us do it?

Fear? Bitchiness? Self righteousness? why? We're funny creatures us humans

gil
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 18415

Posted: Sat Oct 28, 06 5:21 pm Post subject:

Not that the company is 'the devil incarnate', but that

a) FMD spreads very rapidly in pigs (more so than in cattle or sheep), at least partly because pigs tend to be kept at closer quarters to each other, and this abattoir in this location does slaughter a lot of pigs. In other parts of the country, abattoirs do mainly sheep and cattle (e.g. round here, which is not a pig-rearing area).

b) policy of sourcing animals (in this case, pigs) for slaughter from a wide area and in large numbers (and number of batches) increases possibility of spread if disease were to be present in the pig population. This is increased if it is thought that the buyer is prepared to accept old/sick pigs - they become a dumping ground..

The same issue re facilitation of spread obtains with livestock marts which trade in breeding stock brought from and later dispersed to wide areas of the country.

c) depends where the lairage (overnight or temporary holding area prior to slaughter) for the abatttoir / mart is in relation to neighbouring farmland / livestock pasture, i.e. is it contiguous ? One would hope that this at least was one lesson learned from 2001.

It is also the case that stock going to abattoir or mart is more likely to be vet-inspected than stock on-farm, so that any suspicious signs are investigated earlier and more often.

And yes, I did lose my breeding flock in 2001, but that doesn't mean I have a knee-jerk reaction against a particular company. I'd be more concerned that their practices in general might not have been reviewed and amended if neceessary since then, as I know of a number of instances in which subsequent practice has intensified risk factors for the spread of disease .

mochyn

Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 24585
Location: mid-Wales

Posted: Wed Nov 01, 06 11:35 am Post subject:
And I wasn't cross with Mr Cheale for owning the abbatoir where the 'outbreak' was found, it was just his attitude: damaging to my business, etc. He came over as being selfish. It may just have been an unfortunate sound-bite, though.

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