Vets condemn 'needless slaughter'

Some vets want sheep to be killed but many cattle spared

Vets in Devon have condemned the government's slaughter programme to tackle foot-and-mouth disease as a "catalogue of disasters".

A "network of vets", numbering more than 50, has backed a strongly-worded letter sent to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Maff) which attacked part of the culling policy as "needless slaughter".

As the government continues its battle to persuade farmers to accept a limited vaccination programme, one vet warned that Devon is on the verge of "civil war".

We are all concerned there is an overkill

Roger Cunningham
Devon vet

In the letter to Maff, Roger Cunningham, a Devon vet working as a temporary veterinary inspector during the outbreak, maintained thousands of cattle are being slaughtered in farms "contiguous" to outbreaks although it is only necessary to kill sheep.

Mr Cunningham, whose practice in badly-affected Okehampton has two vets working with Maff, contacted practices across Devon and received the support of 50 vets.

Instead of the "dogmatic" approach, he said in the 48 hours after an outbreak it would be possible to spare cattle which could be safely monitored in winter barns.

Divert attention

Mr Cunningham said: "We are all concerned there is an overkill.

"It is doing the job very well, but ... we feel the attention should be diverted to sheep ... [using] resources more profitably and more efficiently by concentrating on culling a two-kilometre zone free of sheep around an infected premises."

"Sheep are so difficult to diagnose the disease in, whereas in cattle it is very simple."

Crisis in the UK

Cases on Wednesday: 19

Total confirmed cases: 1,385

570,000 animals awaiting slaughter

413,000 carcasses awaiting disposal

But he insisted vets would not rebel, saying: "There is no question of people not working or doing their job."

He said the British Cattle Veterinary Association had been calling for a review of the contiguous cull policy in relation to cattle for the last three weeks.

Prime Minister Tony Blair favours inoculating cattle which have been wintering indoors in hard-hit areas like Cumbria and Devon, but wants farmers to support the policy before it is implemented.

Major issues

An advert explaining the thinking behind the plan has been placed by the government in the widely-read Farmers' Weekly magazine.

But farmers' leader Ben Gill has warned that it could take up to two weeks to resolve several "major issues" raised by his members, before he could support the policy.

The Times quoted Wendy Vere, a vet from Crediton in Devon who is among those critical of the government.

She said: "It is verging on civil war in Devon.

Vets 'mutinous'

"All the Devon vets I have spoken to are feeling mutinous."

In Cumbria, one of the worst-hit areas, the burning of slaughtered animals has been suspended amid fears the smoke from pyres could affect public health.

The government's chief vet Jim Scudamore said vaccination could protect animals, "dampen down" the disease and reduce the number of carcasses to deal with.

Maff has published the answers to 50 questions about vaccination posed by the National Farmers' Union, on its website.

Veterinary advice

Prof King said on Wednesday that at least 60% of farmers would have to support the policy before it could begin.

The advert states: "Scientific and veterinary advice to ministers is that a very limited programme of vaccinating cattle in Cumbria, and possibly Devon, is justified as a means of protecting animals."

Meanwhile, the National Trust has announced it is set to lose £11.5m as a result of the outbreak.

The RSPCA has announced it will arrange the delivery of fodder and shelter donated by the public, in an attempt to ease the suffering of animals on hard-hit farms.