BSE: Angry farmers launch cull protest

Farmers want the government to retract slaughter plans

DRESDEN, Germany -- More than 1,000 farmers gathered in Dresden in protest at the government's mass slaughter of cattle.

The government plans to kill 400,000 cattle under a "purchase for destruction" programme launched by the European Union last month to support market prices in the wake of the BSE crisis.

Carring banners reading "stop killing our animals" and "fight BSE and not the farmers" during Saturday's demonstration, the protesters called on the government to retract its order to slaughter all cows in a herd whenever one animal is found to have the deadly bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

Germany has confirmed 29 cases of the disease since November and the country's beef consumption has fallen more than 75 percent, threatening 40,000 jobs in the food and farm sector.

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The German parliament passed a BSE bill on Thursday giving the agriculture ministry broader access to emergency measures, such as ordering culls of herds where a mad cow case was discovered.

Mad cow disease has killed thousands of cattle across Europe and is believed by scientists to be linked to the human form of the ailment Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Official estimates put BSE-related costs at 2.1 billion marks ($1 billion) with the money going to the slaughter, disposal of banned meat and bone meal and the cost of BSE tests, now compulsory for all cattle over the age of 24 months.

Last month, about 6,000 farmers with 500 tractors gathered in the northern German city of Rendsburg to protest against the slaughter of 350 cows.

Many were angry they would not get properly paid for the slaughter -- not that the animals would be killed.

The latest protests come one day after the European Commission said it remained cautious over suggestions that surplus EU beef could be sent to poor nations as food aid.

Some European nations destroy poor-quality beef to reduce the surplus in the wake of the mad cow crisis and push up prices but critics suggest it should be used to help the malnourished.

Agriculture spokesman for the EU's executive body Gregor Kreuzhuber said that beef being dumped in Developing World markets could destroy their national beef markets.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Europe slated for BSE reaction
February 1, 2001
Germany to slaughter 400,000 cattle
January 31, 2001
Germany calls for action over BSE
November 24, 2000
Germany to make BSE testing mandatory
November 30, 2000
German minister quits over BSE crisis
January 9, 2001

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
European Commission
Human BSE Foundation
World Health Organisation: BSE and vCJD factsheets

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