Dead Parrots, Monty Python and Bent Vets
- From: patgardiner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: 28 Oct 2005 13:55:27 -0700
Pat's Note:
Preoccupied as I am, you would not have expected me to miss this
one...and I didn't
Monty Plython's dead parrot sketch had nothing on Britain's State
Veterinary Service, when they make decide to make idiots of themselves.
How many times do we have to watch this performance before someone
plucks up enough courage to sack the entire top management?
They also mixed up the samples, and instucted the company not to
dislose the exact location of the quarantene.
I'm much more worried about the SVS than Mr Hammond.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16293214%26method=full%26siteid=94762%26headline=exclusive%2d%2dlord%2dbird%2dflu-name_page.html
26 October 2005
EXCLUSIVE: LORD BIRD FLU
-Scam cash paid for his title -Tax dodge landed him in jail
By Daniel Boffey And Robert Stansfield
THE owner of the quarantine centre where a parrot died of bird flu made
£7.7million by smuggling exotic birds.
Convicted fraudster Brett Hammond used the fortune he amassed over
three years to buy himself a Lord of the Manor title, two sports cars
and a string of foreign holidays.
Customs and Excise were aware of his trade back in 1993, but he was
only nailed for a £650,000 VAT dodge, meaning he was allowed to resume
his business after 12 months in jail.
Andrew Tyler, the director for Animal Aid, said: "It is outrageous that
the Government should entrust proven crooks with the vital job not only
of protecting of birds through quarantine but as a bulwark against a
human pandemic."
Despite its failure to monitor Hammond - the Department of Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs defended its record, saying: "We don't have the
right, duty or obligation to check someone's criminal record."
Defra was also under fire yesterday as it emerged that just six months
ago Britain had blocked a European ban on importing live birds.
EU veterinary chiefs have now approved a month-long temporary ban.
Hammond, 43, owns Pegasus Birds, in West Horndon, near Brentwood,
Essex, where the killer H5N1 infected parrot is thought to have died.
It is thought the parrot was allowed contact with birds from Thailand,
against veterinary and government advice.
At his trial in 1996, Hammond was sentenced to 18 months' jail, but
this was reduced to a year on appeal.
The court was told how he kept his prices low by ignoring regulations
at a makeshift quarantine centre he built in the back garden of his
rundown bungalow.
Birds were dropped off in the dead of night for sale the next day,
despite the fact all captive birds imported into the UK were required
to undergo 35 days' quarantine, the court heard.
Last night it emerged preliminary tests on dead wild geese found in
western Germany showed they had bird flu. But a local health official
said they died from poisoning, not the virus.
Further tests will be carried out to check if it was the H5N1 strain.
Meanwhile, flu vaccine manufacturers warned they would struggle to
deliver jabs for 60million people.
An eight-week vaccination programme will require 15million jabs a week
- normally 12million jabs are given over the entire flu season.
Spokesman Richard Stubbins,told the House of Lords: "We have a lot of
work to do to bridge the gap."
The EU food safety agency is set to advise against consuming raw eggs
to prevent the spread of bird flu.
Regards
Pat Gardiner
www.go-self-sufficient.com
.
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