By JILL
LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer
 | | A
Farmer Inspects the Remains of his Destroyed Cattle Herd... (AP) |
LONDON
(AP) - As foot-and-mouth continued to spread across Britain Saturday, the government
found itself caught between a tourist industry desperate to draw visitors back
to the countryside and farmers angry that hundreds of thousands of healthy animals
are to be slaughtered.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals joined mounting opposition to the mass slaughter, which calls for healthy
sheep and pigs to be destroyed within two miles of infected sites in the worst-affected
areas of northern England and southern Scotland.
"If there are speculative
culls the government risks killing the wrong sheep in the wrong place," said the
group's chief veterinarian, Chris Laurence.
Plans for the expanded slaughter
have divided farmers. The National Farmers' Union supports the move, but lobby
group Farmers For Action said it would take legal action to stop the cull.
"This
is all-out war - and I don't use those words lightly," said spokesman David Handley.
"If this is the way they want to handle it, I'm afraid they've got a fight on
their hands."
A month after the outbreak began, more than 280 cases of
foot-and-mouth have been discovered in Britain, along with one in Northern Ireland
and another in France. The government hopes the drastic cull will allow officials
to reopen some of the parks, pathways and tourist attractions closed in an attempt
to stem the outbreak.
Tourism officials say the closures are costing the
industry as much as $360 million a week.
Culture Secretary Chris Smith
said Saturday that the government was looking at ways of providing economic relief
to the tourist sector.
"We will be seeing if there is more the government
can do. What I cannot do is produce an instant check book," he said during a visit
to England's Lake District, whose idyllic hills and glens normally swarm with
hikers.
In face of farmers' unease about the cull, officials announced
Friday that chief veterinarian Jim Scudamore would travel to affected areas Monday
to speak to farmers.
"The national farming organizations, who have been
in very close touch, understand its need and although they find it terribly distressing
recognize the need for it," said junior agriculture minister Baroness Hayman.
"Individuals affected need to understand it too, which is what we hope
to achieve over the next few days," she added.
Police in the Lake District
county of Cumbria said Friday they had confiscated firearms from a farmer who
allegedly threatened veterinary officials who came to cull his livestock
It
is unclear how many livestock will be killed under the "slaughter on suspicion"
scheme. National Farmers' Union leader Ben Gill set the number at more than 1
million, but Scudamore said it would be about 500,000, including more than 200,000
animals already condemned.
A highly contagious livestock ailment, foot-and-mouth
disease poses no threat to humans. But when it strikes countries or trade blocs
that had previously been certified as free of the disease - such as Britain and
the rest of the European Union - it can have disastrous commercial consequences
Countries around the world have banned imports of meat and animals from
Europe, and EU countries have imposed their own restrictions. Portugal on Spain
said late Friday that any movement of animals between the two countries would
require a special permit. |
