Hobby farmers pose bird flu risk ?

Pat's Note: I'm incandescent with rage.

Maff-Defra imposes what seem perfectly sensible regulations to register
poultry in case of need in the event of bird flu.

For some reason they exempt flocks with less than 50 birds.

The SVS then attack hobby farmers with less than 50 birds on the grounds
that they are an unregulated risk.

As usual, our corrupt state veterinarians are preparing to blame the
innocent for their next veterinary disaster.the only preplanning that the
SVS ever do.

How long is Britain going to put up being given the run around by a gang of
bent government vets?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4664614.stm

Hobby farmers pose bird flu risk

There are at least 250,000 smaller scale poultry owners in the country

The government's chief vet has told BBC News she has no idea how many people
keep chickens in the UK, which could cause problems in a bird flu outbreak.

The authorities would be reliant on the media to relay advice and
information to hobby farmers, Debby Reynolds said.
The government is setting up a compulsory registration scheme for all
farmers with more than 50 hens.

But according to industry estimates there are at least 250,000 smaller scale
poultry owners in the country.

Senior vets and farmers say they are very worried about the government's
lack of energy and commitment to achieving a more accurate estimate of the
numbers.

One senior industry figure told BBC News: "We are slow to learn the lessons
of foot-and-mouth."
It is very important for information to go out that 'if you have a sick
bird, call in a vet'

Bird flu expert Professor Hugh Pennington

National Farmers' Union president Tim Bennett told BBC News the situation
was unacceptable.

If bird flu hit Britain, commercial farmers would be expected to take
measures to prevent the virus spreading.

But the spread would not be contained unless the government were able to
communicate with everyone who keeps poultry, Mr Bennett added.

"It is not just getting the right messages across; I am just as concerned
about people getting the wrong messages.

"There is plenty of people, and plenty of tabloid newspapers, who would be
quite happy to spread alarmist messages, which would not be helpful at all."

Ill health

Bird flu expert Professor Hugh Pennington told BBC News the government
should already be ensuring the right advice and information was reaching
small-scale hen keepers "on a regular basis".

"It is very important for information to go out that 'if you have a sick
bird, call in a vet'.

"The other issue that concerns me is birds being bought and sold -
foot-and-mouth spread because animals were being moved about," Professor
Pennington added.

Dr Reynolds told BBC News the government wanted keepers of poultry "to
behave responsibly... to operate basic hygiene precautions, to look for
signs of ill health and to report those to their veterinary surgeon".


--
Regards
Pat Gardiner
www.go-self-sufficient.com


.

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