The slaughter of up to half a million healthy sheep to halt the spread of foot-and-mouth will go ahead within weeks, but some flocks in Cumbria may be spared, Britain's chief veterinary officer, Mr Jim Scuda more, said yesterday. In a concession to angry farmers in the area facing the loss of specialist breeds, the Ministry of Agriculture will consider pleas to exclude some flocks from the mass cull.
The move, announced by Mr Scudamore during a visit to Cumbria where he was slowhand-clapped by several farmers, is part of the British government's plan to head off the threat of a rural revolt among some communities angered by the decision to slaughter healthy animals in Cumbria and southern Scotland.
At a meeting with farming and veterinary officials in Carlisle, Mr Scudamore explained the cull was vital to ending the spread of foot-and-mouth. He also said Ministry officials would work harder to reduce the time between diagnosis and slaughter to 24 hours to stop carcasses lying on the ground.
Calling for improved communication between farmers and government officials, he said: "What is clear is that there is a clear commitment to work together and no one group is going to resolve this problem.
"There has to be commitment from the Ministry, from farmers and from vets to work together to get rid of this disease. We have got to improve communication, particularly with the farming communities in Cumbria." Local farming leaders recommended farmers should accept the mass slaughter.
As the number of confirmed cases of foot-and-mouth rose to 335, Downing Street said there were no plans to postpone the census at the end of April or the May 3rd local elections.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, said postal votes were available. On the local elections, he said: "A large amount of canvassing is done over the telephone. Providing people take sensible precautions there's no reason why they can't move off the properties and back on to them."
Downing Street was responding to comments made by the Shadow Home Secretary, Ms Ann Widdecombe, who said the census should be postponed. She wrote to the leader of the House of Commons, Ms Margaret Beckett, calling on the government to clarify its position on the census.
In a statement, Ms Widdecombe asked whether at a time of "national crisis", it would be wise for thousands of data collectors to travel across the country. "When vast areas of the country are effectively quarantined in order to prevent the further spread of foot-and-mouth, it seems to me common sense that the government should act to see that any possible source of infection is closed off," she said.
A limited cull of sheep in the north of Scotland began at the weekend. The mood in the Scottish borders was sombre as the number of confirmed cases rose to 48 and farmers prepared for the mass cull. The slaughter of healthy sheep is expected to begin on farms in Dumfries and Galloway later this week.
National Farmers' Union representatives in the area said farmers were resigned to losing their animals. A local spokesman for the NFU said most farmers supported the pre-emptive measures, even though the plan was drastic. "We have a lot of farmers devastated at the prospect of seeing their life work going," the spokesman said, "but they have no doubt of the need to get the disease eradicated as quickly as possible."
However, one frustrated livestock farmer at Blainslie in the Scottish borders said he was seeking legal advice to prevent his animals being slaughtered. Mr Colin Strang-Steel said his farm was 40 miles from the nearest confirmed case and his animals were clean. "We underwent four separate inspections by the ministry vets and they found nothing wrong with any of our flock or our cattle."
Soldiers are to be deployed in Devon to help clear the backlog of slaughtered animals. The Ministry of Defence said that the army personnel would be assisting the civilian contractors who are culling animals and removing carcasses for destruction.
. --(PA)