Cull plans anger Dutch farmers

In the Netherlands the slaughter of herds is underway

By Geraldine Coughlan in The Hague

Angry farmers blocked roads on Tuesday in protest at the EU's non-vaccination policy and the Dutch Government's slaughter of animals in areas where the disease is suspected.

Farmers are against pre-emptive slaughter in suspect areas

They are demanding that the culling be restricted to zones around the five farms where the disease is officially confirmed. The farmers threatened to step up their action on Wednesday.

Evidence of the foot-and-mouth virus has been found at two more farms at Kootwijkerbroek and Vaassen in the Veluwe region in the east of the country, bringing the number of suspected cases to 11.

A limited programme of vaccination began on Monday - the first of its kind in Europe - after the EU Veterinary Committee granted permission on Monday.

27,000 animals await slaughter

Twenty-seven thousand animals are being destroyed in a two-kilometre zone around infected and suspect farms.

On Tuesday a court in The Hague came out in support of the farmers by stopping the government from destroying animals at a farm in Brabant.

The owners objected to the killing of healthy cows at their farm - close to a farm where the disease is suspected.

But the court will reverse its decision if foot-and-mouth is confirmed at the nearby farm in Sprang-Capelle.

Zoos and parks endangered

There are widespread calls for preventative vaccinations to stop the disease from spreading to healthy animals across the country, as well as to zoo and park animals.

Queen Beatrix has been visiting laboratories using and testing the vaccines against foot-and-mouth.

Queen Beatrix has been visiting vaccination testing facilities

Prime Minister Wim Kok and Agriculture Minister Laurens Brinkhorst are to visit the farms affected by the disease on Wednesday.

Exports of livestock, meat and dairy products from the provinces of Overijssel, Gelderland, Brabant and Flevoland are banned, but the European Commission has lifted the ban on meat and dairy exports from the rest of the country.

Reduced working week

Companies affected by the foot-and-mouth crisis may soon introduce a shorter working week, affecting 28,000 employees.

The Dutch Meat and Livestock Board estimates that 8,000 British sheep were illegally transported to the Netherlands just before the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the UK.

Government inspectors are now trying to trace the animals and losses to the farming community because of the foot-and-mouth outbreak are expected to rise to $3bn.

Meanwhile, the Dutch Airline Company, KLM, aware of what the disease is doing to its image, and has taken pork beef and lamb dishes off its menu, offering passengers fish or poultry instead.