Farmers say virus response 'too slow'

Bennett: "Farmers are very angry."

LONDON, England -- The UK's farmers' union has accused the British government of acting too slowly in the early days of the foot-and-mouth crisis.

The National Union of Farmers says the announcement by the Ministry of Agriculture that thousands of unaffected animals will have to be destroyed could have been prevented.

In an escalation of measures against the disease, Britain is to destroy all sheep and pigs within three kilometres (two miles) of any confirmed outbreak in Cumbria -- the worst affected area.

The pre-emptive slaughter, which is strongly opposed by some farmers, will start "within weeks," Chief Veterinary Officer Jim Scudamore said on Monday.

The drastic measure comes as the number of confirmed foot-and-mouth cases in the UK reached 348 and troops were called in to help dispose of the backlog of carcasses.

AUDIO National Farmers Union'sTimothy Bennett: Farmers' anger is directed at the government for failing to implement the cull correctly 772 KB/72 sec.. AIFF or WAV sound

Timothy Bennett, the union's deputy president, told CNN's Insight programme that the government's failure to act quickly initially had necessitated the wider cull to handle the emergency.

He said: "I think the majority of farmers overwhelmingly support containing and eradicating the disease.

"But I think, quite rightly, in certain areas of the country -- and Cumbria is one -- farmers are very angry."

He said the anger stems from a lack of consultation in advance of the controversial decision to cull healthy stock and the lack of haste in killing and then disposing of infected animals when the first outbreaks were detected.

"We expect the minute a problem is found with sheep or cattle, they are killed within 24 hours and the carcasses removed within another 24 hours," he said.

"That has sometimes taken up to a week, so farmers in Cumbria are very angry because they feel that the government's delay in killing infected stock means that now more stock will have to be killed than necessary.

"I think the anger is directed at government because the farmers see the failures to implement the cull correctly has meant that healthy stock will have to be killed."

However, Bennett said that while the number of cases in known affected areas was a cause for concern -- and was likely to increase -- the spread of the disease appeared to have been slowed, or even halted.

Troops will help clear the backlog of piles of rotting carcasses

"We expected to see a lot more cases. What is significant is that we seem to be confining the outbreaks now to key areas of the country, for example the county of Devon, Cumbria and along the border with England and Wales.

"We are getting sporadic outbreaks in other parts of the country but…in a sense we are containing the disease within those three areas but the number of cases are going up quite dramatically."

Bennett was speaking after Scudamore met with NFU representatives and farmers in Cumbria.

The union told Scudamore how the grim slaughter could be carried out "in a prioritised, strategic way, which may spare some pedigree high value stock without compromising disease control."

NFU Cumbria Council delegate Peter Allen said: "Our members hit home to the Chief Vet the gravity of the situation in Cumbria.

"Farmers are going out of their minds with worry about the extended 3km cull.

"We are pleased that Mr Scudamore has indicated that he will discuss with the (Agriculture) Minister an exemption for high value flocks from the cull."

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National Farmers' Union
Ministry of Defence
UK Ministry of Agriculture
Foot-and-Mouth Disease

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