-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! MONDAY MARCH 05 2001 Foot-and-mouth Army alert as virus hits Dartmoor BY VALERIE ELLIOTT, COUNTRYSIDE EDITOR TROOPS were on standby last night to help to round up thousands of farm animals on Dartmoor after the first confirmed foot-and-mouth case in the area broke out at one of the Prince of Wales’s Duchy of Cornwall farms. Farmers in the South West are worried about the latest development and believed the mass slaughter of thousands of cattle, sheep and even ponies could be inevitable. There was particular alarm because the Government admitted that so far there was no link with any previous cases and the virus could have been carried by the wind. A senior National Farmers’ Union source described "a mood of near hysteria and panic" in the region. The Ministry of Agriculture was awaiting details about the Dartmoor farm before triggering emergency contingency plans as the epidemic rose to 69 confirmed cases in mainland Britain and Northern Ireland and seven in Scotland. Richard Cawthorne, the Government’s deputy chief veterinary officer, said he believed animals on Dunna Bridge Farm, near Two Bridges on Dartmoor, had not been grazing on common land and posed no threat to the 46,000 breeding flock on the moor. Although so far there was no link with a previous case he believed they could still find one by checking the movement of animals, people and vehicles. Regional vets were assessing the situation with John Hodge, the NFU representative for Dartmoor. The Times has learnt that farmers are refusing to collect their livestock from the moor and any collection of animals would be done by troops based at Okehampton. Vets would check every animal before the cattle were shot by military marksmen. A spokesman for the NFU in the South West said the latest development was "farming’s worst nightmare" given Devon’s place as the biggest livestock centre in the country. It is known that a number of sheep from the Dartmoor farm have jumped fences on at least one neighbouring farm in the past days and there was a bleak mood in the farming community about the threat. Baroness Hayman, junior Agriculture Minister, emphasised that there was no intention of prevaricating any decision about Dartmoor but they needed to know the full facts. The Prince of Wales was being kept informed of the situation at the farm of his tenant, Roger Winsor. A St James’s Palace spokesman said: "He is very concerned about the plight of the farmer." Five farms next to the Duchy farm are to be investigated as a matter of urgency by Ministry of Agriculture vets today. They are believed to have had contact with Mr Winsor’s farm. John Hodge, chairman of the Commoners Council of Dartmoor, said: "We are hoping that so far the virus has been kept off the moor but another five farms need investigating. If there is a problem, we will divide the moor into quarters and troops from Okehampton will round up the livestock." The disease is otherwise being contained in the way the ministry has forecast and there was some comfort that the new cases were in already-infected areas. Compared with 1967, the scale of the present outbreak is smaller and the spread slower, suggesting that efforts to restrict the epidemic may be succeeding. The new cases yesterday were broken down as three in Devon, one in Cornwall, three on Tyne and Wear and three in Scotland. A total of 53,700 animals have been slaughtered or condemned and another 9,965 will be destroyed as dangerous contacts. Lady Hayman said the Government was pleased that there were so far no confirmed cases on the Continent. The Government has not even been informed of a new suspect case in Denmark. The first animals slaughtered for food under the new licensed controls were in Scotland last night. A pig abattoir at Malton in the North East was also reported ready to receive pigs to boost supplies of bacon and ham. A total of 89 licences have been granted to abattoirs to start slaughtering livestock and another 150 have applied for the licence. There were serious concerns that farmers were being offered lower prices for their livestock by abattoirs than before the outbreak, even though consumer prices are likely to go up by 20 per cent. West Devon Beef was offered £1.60 a kilo by meat firms in Somerset and the Midlands. The price before the outbreak was £1.75. Lady Hayman promised that ministers would be keeping a close eye on prices. Richard Haddock, a Devon farmer and partner in West Devon Beef, said: "We are refusing to sell for less than £1.75 per kilo. It is more evidence that farmers’ arms are being pushed behind their backs. If prices are jumping 25 per cent at Smithfield Market and 20 per cent on imports, who is profiteering here?" *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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