ANIMALNET MARCH 29, 2001 -- II FMD : SVC agrees to UK contingency plan USDA develops new FMD test Britain's foot-and-mouth toll hits 742 Foot and mouth disease: British farmers buying in Australia U.S., EU dig in heels on meat ban, food restrictions Vets split on vaccinations: `not the be-all, end-all,' says food agency expert Argentine foot-and-mouth outbreak areas "more than 110": official Saskatchewan study compares manure and commercial fertilizer 'Snails left behind by life in fast lane Dayday heads hog waste venture: company hopes to produce heat, light and fertilizer from manure for state-of-art barns Arraignment on dog death charges delayed for couple Years of research show pets can improve your health AnimalNet is produced by the Centre for Safe Food at the University of Guelph, and is supported by the Ontario Cattlemen's Association, the Canadian Food Information Council, the U.S. National Pork Producers, U.S. National Food Processors Association, Pfizer Animal Health Group, Pioneer Hi-Bred Limited (Canada), Canadian Animal Health Institute, Meat & Livestock Australia, Canadian Pork Council, Ontario Pork, Tyson Foods, Ontario Egg Producers, Ontario Farm Animal Council, U.S. National Cattlemens Beef Association, the Rutgers Food Risk Analysis Initiative, Ag-West Biotech, Land O' Lakes Feed, Capital Health, Animal Industry Foundation, American Feed Industry Assn., the Ontario Soybean Growers Marketing Board, Food Industry Environmental Network, Canadian Poultry and Egg Processors, Chicken Farmers of Canada, MDS Nordion, American Meat Institute, AdCulture, USDA Veterinary Services (Fort Collins) Alberta Farm Animal Council, and the Agricultural Adaptation Council (CanAdapt Program). archived at: http://www.plant.uoguelph.ca/safefood/archives/animalnet-archives.htm FMD : SVC AGREES TO UK CONTINGENCY PLAN March 28, 2001 European Commission DN: IP/01/463 IP/01/463 Brussels -The Standing Veterinary Committee representing the Member States of the European Union gave today a favourable opinion to the proposal of the European Commission fixing the conditions applicable if the plan for emergency vaccination of cattle in Devon and Cumbria (UK) is applied by the UK authorities. While confirming their strong commitment to the policy aimed at foot and mouth disease eradication the Committee acknowledged that in Devon and Cumbria there is a specific epidemiological situation where the disease is already widespread in sheep. The Committee confirmed that there is no support for general preventive vaccination of animals in the EU as a whole. The forthcoming Commission proposal for a revised Council Directive on Community measures for the control of FMD will, however, provide an opportunity for wide-ranging debate on all issues including in particular the use of preventive vaccination. The Committee agreed that the question of a possible preventive vaccination of zoo animals shall be discussed in an expert working group next Friday and by the Chief Veterinary Officers of all Member States who meet tomorrow in their meeting of the Council. The UK request is prompted by the exceptional circumstances in the counties of Cumbria and Devon. In these counties a very large number of FMD infected sheep are being found, without showing evident signs of disease. There are also exceptional problems related to culling a huge number of FMD susceptible animals. The Committee recognised that these exceptional circumstances warrant an exceptional response. It was considered appropriate, therefore, to ask the Committee to clarify the conditions under which protective FMD vaccination could be used as an additional tool for the eradication of the disease. In the event that vaccination takes place, about 180 000 cattle would be vaccinated and would need to be clearly identified as such in their passports. The vaccinated cattle would not be moved from the vaccination zones for more than one year after the last outbreak in that area and in no case to other Member States as they might in principle spread the FMD virus to other animals, if infected just before full immunity develops. The meat and the milk of these animals could be used subject to specific treatments which will ensure possible FMD virus destruction (pasteurisation of milk, maturation of meat). Furthermore, the trade restrictions which are applied in Great Britain since 21 February will continue to stay in force. As a consequence no live animals nor any derived non-treated products which might spread the FMD virus can be marketed outside the UK. If the UK resorts to the possibility of protective vaccination it shall ensure that Member States and the Commission are officially informed on further details of the envisaged vaccination campaign, such as the exact area where protective vaccination will take place. Such a possible campaign would of course have an temporary and eographically limited impact on the FMD status of the UK. In the light of the control standard in place at international level, the internationally recognised status of other Member States being «FMD-free without vaccination » is not in question. USDA DEVELOPS NEW FMD TEST March 29, 2001 Agweb News Kristin Danley-Greiner http://www.agweb.com/news_show_news_article.asp?file=AgNewsArticle_200132984 9_113&newscat=GN The U.S. Department of Agriculture has developed a new diagnostic test for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) that can determine the presence of FMD in 40 minutes instead of the current period of 40 hours. Experts say that quick detection is crucial to prevent spreading of the disease. USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Administrator Floyd P. Horn told the Senate Agriculture Committee that the ARS would be testing the new procedure this week in Britain. Details regarding the actual procedure will be disclosed once it is determined if the test is accurate and can be used in the event that FMD enters the U.S. Also, Horn testified that the USDA has made a major breakthrough in vaccinations pertaining to the diagnostic test. In the past, vaccinations confused the test, and could end up spreading the disease rather than preventing it. Now, a new vaccine candidate avoids causing such a problem, he said. BRITAIN'S FOOT-AND-MOUTH TOLL HITS 742 March 29, 2001 Agence France Presse English/AP/Reuters/PA News/Electronic Telegraph/The British Times LONDON - The number of foot-and-mouth outbreaks in Britain rose early on Thursday to 742, an increase of 13 on the previous day, the ministry of agriculture said. The new cases were concentrated in the twin epicentres of the disease, Cumbria in northwest England and neighbouring Dumfries and Galloway in southwest Scotland. Foot-and-mouth, which is not dangerous to humans, was reported in Britain on February 19 and confirmed a day later. According to figures from Britain's agriculture ministry 719,000 animals, mainly sheep, pigs and cattle, have been earmarked for slaughter in a bid to contain the epidemic here. Of those, some 442,000 have already been killed, leaving 277,000 still to be slaughtered. There is also a delay in disposing of the remains -- so far, only 323,000 carcasses have been buried or incinerated. The pig farm identified by the Government as the likely source of the foot and mouth epidemic was visited six times by inspectors from various agencies in the year before the outbreak was confirmed, it was disclosed last night. The last visit, by officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, was on Jan 24, eight days before the infected pigs could have started incubating the disease. As epidemiological experts and trading standards officers investigating the outbreak at Burnside Farm, Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumberland, continued to search for the cause of the outbreak, more details emerged about the two brothers who ran the farm. Bobby Waugh, 55, and his brother Ronnie, 59, were convicted in 1991 of disposing of farm waste in a sewer and then evicted from a another pig farm they ran in South Tyneside in 1995 because of the "squalid state" of the premises. The ministry confirmed that its officials and trading standards officers from Northumberland county council visited Burnside Farm on Dec 22 after a complaint to the RSPCA that pig carcasses were being left with live animals. There were also complaints that unprocessed pigswill was being fed to the animals. This has been vehemently denied by the Waugh brothers. The ministry said the visit produced no grounds for a prosecution and the 520 pigs at the farm were "fit and healthy", but advice was issued to the brothers about upkeep and conditions. A second visit to the farm took place on Jan 24, when the pigs were inspected and a trading standards officer checked the farm's pig movement records. They were found to be in order. The ministry said that no evidence of foot and mouth was found at that time, but Nick Brown, the Agriculture Minister, acknowledged on Tuesday that some pigs could have developed the disease eight days later. He told the Commons that suspicious lesions found on pigs at Burnside Farm on Feb 22 suggested that they had been incubating the disease for at least two and possibly up to three weeks. Before the two visits by the ministry and trading standards officers, environmental health officers from Castle Morpeth council were called to the area surrounding the farm four times last year to investigate the spillage of slurry and grain on lanes. The foot and mouth epidemic showed the first sign of spreading in Scotland yesterday after a case was confirmed in the Borders. Sorbietrees Farm, in Newcastleton, was the first confirmed case outside Dumfries and Galloway. One new case was confirmed there yesterday, taking the total in Scotland to 94. While the Borders farm is close to the Dumfries and Galloway area, the news spread panic round the area. Ian Aitchison, 57, whose farm neighbours Sorbietrees and is six miles from the Dumfries and Galloway border, prepared last night to lose 350 sheep under the Government's pre-emptive cull. A retired vet who offered his services to the Ministry of Agriculture last month in a bid to help combat the outbreak is still awaiting instructions. The complaints from private and retired vets about a seeming lack of concern by the Government, despite appeals for vets to come forward, are now so numerous that the British Veterinary Association is demanding explanations from the Ministry of Agriculture. Tory leader William Hague Thursday threw down the gauntlet to Prime Minister Tony Blair when for the first time he publicly urged him to delay plans for a May 3 General Election. With no official poll date yet set, Mr Hague put the pressure on Mr Blair to abandon his plan to go to the country on the day of the county council elections and instead concentrate on beating foot-and-mouth disease. Mr Hague accused the Prime Minister of putting the interests of Labour ahead of the country as huge swathes of the British tourism and farming industries were being ravaged by the disease. Publishing entrepreneur turned organic farmer Peter Kindersley today launched a UK High Court bid to block the Government's policy of slaughtering healthy animals to combat the foot-and-mouth crisis. In the first case of its kind, a QC appearing for Mr Kindersley, 59, said the policy of slaughtering animals which were "only suspected of being infected" -- or had been exposed to infection -- "goes too far" and was unlawful. Today's application for permission to seek judicial review was brought by Mr Kindersley, who was behind Dorling Kindersley books and now owns 2,500-acre Sheep Drove Farm in Lambourn, Berkshire. His wife Juliet, 60, and two other farmers, Thomas Scott and Anne Young, have also joined the action. Livestock smugglers are demanding immunity as part of a deal before giving the go-ahead to a cull of sheep in Northern Ireland, it was claimed today. South Armagh farmers are resisting desperate attempts to kill off more than 2,000 animals in an area infected by foot-and-mouth in a bitter row over compensation terms. The European Commission has stipulated the cull must be completed before a lifting of the ban on exports from the province planned for next Tuesday gets the green light. A second round of talks between south Armagh farmers and department officials broke up last night without the demands being met. A senior member of Sinn Fein today emphatically denied the discussions had centred on calls for immunity from the farmers. But Ulster Unionist Assembly member for Newry and Armagh, Danny Kennedy, insisted negotiations had involved attempts to prevent prosecution of smugglers. The Commander of British Land Forces spoke yesterday of the Army¹s battle against an invisible enemy as he joined Army butchers on the front line against foot-and-mouth. General Sir Michael Jackson toured the Great Orton airfield site, west of Carlisle, where the cull of hundreds of thousands of live, healthy sheep finally got under way around mid-morning. He acknowledged that it was a ³rather different sort of conflict² from those his officers normally dealt with. ³The Army is assisting on request throughout the country,² he said. ³We will do our level best to meet these requirements. I hope we can win.² Afterwards he described the scene at the pit as a very sad sight, adding: ³Nobody likes to see death and it is just an awful waste, a dreadful waste.² It started with a boil. A vet noticed that 27 pigs at the Cheale Meats abattoir in Essex were looking lethargic on February 19. Then he saw the sores. He had been too young for the last major outbreak in 1967, but he feared that it was foot and mouth. The sores caused alarm at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Within 48 hours, the outbreak had been traced back to a farm in Heddon-on-the-Wall in Northumberland. The war against the pan-asiatic virus type O had begun. British food exports were halted by the European Commission. Supermarkets began running out of meat. Cheltenham was threatened. There were rumours that the disease could be carried 100 miles on the wind. At first, the Prime Minister appeared to have the crisis under control. He listened to Ben Gill, the president of the National Farmers' Union. In an interview on his Downing Street website, he said the outbreak was "devastating" and the situation "grave". The message went out: the countryside is closed. But instead of handing over operations to his best generals, he put his juniors, Nick Brown and Lady Hayman, in charge of stamping out the disease. Farmer Brown and Hayman may have suitable countryside names, but they were given little more than hessian sacks to control the crisis. They were one step behind events, outflanked by the virus, which soon spread to Devon. Tony Blair didn't want to risk images of the Army shooting everything that moved. When the Armed Forces were finally allowed to help, they were forced into a logistical role, well back from the front line. It took 36 days before they were asked to assist with the cull: Lady Hayman's excuse was that they didn't have a licence to slaughter. Within a week, Mr Blair seemed to have forgotten the countryside crisis. At his Camp David meeting with President Bush, the subject was hardly mentioned. Foot and mouth had saved Mr Blair from the potentially embarrassing Liberty and Livelihood March: people spoke of him having all the luck. The Prime Minister could still go to his country retreat, Chequers, and use the swimming pool and tennis court. When Gordon Brown stood up to give his Budget speech on March 7, he offered Britain a £4 billion pre-election bonanza - but he gave only £152 million to the farmers. The Government was on a high. Its worry was Vaz, rather than vaccination. Labour's support in the opinion polls was going up more steeply than the number of new cases. On March 12, when Ireland accused Britain of mishandling the crisis, Mr Blair could shrug it off. But slowly public opinion was beginning to shift. The first pyres had been erected. Animal lovers living in towns now joined the Cumbrian farmers in their horror at lambs being led to slaughter. After a fortnight, the tourism industry, worth £8 billion a year, was feeling the strain. Not since the Gulf war had bookings fallen so dramatically. Chambermaids, waiters and gardeners were suffering as much as their employers. Sheep and lambs being slaughtered in the mass cull in Cumbria are being killed humanely, the RSPCA said today. The methods used by state and Army vets ensure all animals slaughtered to curb the foot-and-mouth disease die painlessly, RSPCA Superintendent Bill Cottingham said. Two RSPCA inspectors were today granted access by the Ministry of Agriculture to the slaughter site at Great Orton where they observed the cull of more than 6,000 sheep and lambs. The strain of foot-and-mouth virus plaguing Britain's farms was first detected in India more than a decade ago. Scientists have been tracking it across the world since then, but are no closer to determining how it got to England. Considered the most contagious disease in the world, foot-and-mouth is widespread in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and South America. It affects cloven-hoofed farm animals and can wreck a country's livestock export business, though it is harmless to humans. The virus can be spread by anything it touches, from sandwich meat to the soles of shoes and truck tires; wind can carry it 40 miles. While countries in the developed world scramble to stamp it out as soon as it is detected to protect trade, poor nations that don't export meat let it run its course. Experts have identified the virus causing the current outbreak in Europe as belonging to the Pan-Asia type 0 strain. The subtype ravaging Britain is normally found in the Middle East and South Asia. "In some cases, you could track the exact movements of the virus," said Chris Bostock, director of the Institute of Animal Health in Pirbright, England. "But with this strain of type 0, it has cropped up in so many places around the world that you can't really say this led to this, and then it went there ... It could have gotten here from any of the places it has been," he said. There are seven main varieties of the foot-and-mouth virus and several subtypes of each. Scientists use genetic tests to determine which subtype is causing a particular outbreak. All outbreaks are reported to the Institute for Animal Health, the world reference laboratory for foot-and-mouth disease, which tracks occurrences across the globe. Scientists then examine samples of infected animals and trace the genetic lineage in hopes of finding the source of the infection. The strain of virus ravaging Britain was first identified in 1990 in northern India. "That doesn't mean to say it wasn't causing problems elsewhere at an earlier time," Bostock said. "That is just the first time it was detected." In 1993, it was found to the north in neighboring Nepal and by 1994 it had spread westward to Saudi Arabia. In 1996, it caused outbreaks throughout the Middle East and moved into the western fringe of Europe, touching parts of Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece. At the same time it cropped up in Malaysia and Bangladesh. By 1999, it was detected in mainland China, then Taiwan. In late 1999 and in 2000, it reached most of Southeast Asia. Last year, it was reported in Japan and Korea and in Mongolia and remote parts of eastern Russia. According to the World Organization for Animal Health, circumstantial evidence indicates hay imported from China may have been a factor in the simultaneous outbreaks in Korea and Japan. FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE: BRITISH FARMERS BUYING IN AUSTRALIA March30 2001 The Age Richard Baker http://www.theage.com.au/news/2001/03/30/FFXZMFVDVKC.html British farmers have, according to this story, begun buying Australian rural property after the spread of foot-and-mouth disease across Europe. Rural real estate agents have reported a surge in British demand in recent months, particularly for property in Tasmania, where the cool, damp conditions resemble parts of Britain. Roly Gibbons, a real estate agent with Elders Limited in Tasmania, was cited as saying British farmers had bought about $9million worth of property there in recent months. Mr Gibbons said land in Australia appealed to British farmers because it was free of livestock disease and comparatively cheap. U.S., EU DIG IN HEELS ON MEAT BAN, FOOD RESTRICTIONS March 29, 2001 LA Times Norman Kempster, WASHINGTON--The United States and the European Union both refused to yield Wednesday in a transatlantic food fight over an American ban on imports of European meat because of foot-and-mouth disease, and Europe's refusal to import biologically engineered food from the U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman and David Byrne, the EU's commissioner for health and consumer protection, each promised to look into the competing import bans but ruled out any immediate change. "Obviously the situation in Europe isn't under control yet with the continued increase in the number of cases" in Britain, Veneman said of the foot-and-mouth epidemic that has ravaged the livestock business in Britain and spread to Ireland, France and the Netherlands. Byrne, meanwhile, said European consumers simply will not buy hormone-treated beef or biologically engineered grains. He said the European Union is willing to consider lifting an import ban once it develops labeling rules that would alert consumers to biologically altered food. Despite the continuing standoff, Byrne, who also met with Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick and Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, said he was pleased with his first talks with the new administration. VETS SPLIT ON VACCINATIONS: `NOT THE BE-ALL, END-ALL,' SAYS FOOD AGENCY EXPERT March 29, 2001 The Calgary Herald/Toronto Star/Ottawa Sun Dr. Andy Potter, associate director of the Veterinary Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan was cited as saying that Canada should vaccinate cattle, pigs and sheep to stop the potential spread of foot-and-mouth disease, adding, "We'd like to see vaccines used. If you want to control disease, vaccines work wonderfully.'' But Calgary-based Canadian Food Inspection Agency expert Dr. Larry Delvera was cited as saying that vaccination would be too costly as merely a preventive measure, adding, "You won't see (a mass vaccination program) unless we're faced with an outbreak . . . that's pretty much out of control. The vaccine is not the be-all, end-all.'' The debate over vaccination comes as Britain obtained permission Wednesday from the European Union to launch a mass vaccination program. The problem is vaccination prompts the creation of anti-bodies that are also found in sick animals. Many countries, including the U.S. and Canada, will not accept vaccinated livestock because it's very difficult to distinguish inoculated animals from infected ones. Potter was cited as admitting the trade rules surrounding vaccinated animals would need to change before the livestock industry here could embrace widespread inoculation. Canada hasn't vaccinated livestock against foot-and- mouth disease for decades. Rather, it prevents the disease by managing outside contact with livestock and slaughtering animals suspected of having serious diseases. Delver was cited as saying scientists are working on an improved foot- and-mouth vaccination that can be detected, thereby allowing importers to differentiate between vaccinated and sick livestock. However, he added the real problem with mass vaccination would be the cost. Delver said there are at least seven strains of foot-and-mouth disease and millions of cattle, pigs and sheep in Canada. Dr. Doug MacLeod was cited as saying in London yesterday prior to his return to Canada last night that Canada is not immune to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth, adding, "Although Canada is much larger and more spread out, we have areas of extremely high concentration of agriculture,'' And he said Ottawa should be prepared for meeting emergencies in the most efficient way, stating, "Within the last couple of years the virus has shown up where it hasn't been before. This was a wake-up call to most governments. It acts as a reminder that we are not an isolated country.'' But, MacLeod warned, "Canada is not heavily populated with vets and training personnel. We have to review contingency plans and make sure we have the trained people and resources, if they were ever needed. We should go back and do that.'' Now into its fifth week, Europe's foot-and-mouth disease is potentially putting the plug in one of Canada's lesser-known export commodities: Bull semen. With the slaughter of thousands of cattle in England and the threat of the disease spreading in Europe, the demand for bovine artificial insemination is decreasing. Paul Larmer, sales and marketing manager at Semex Alliance, the Guelph-based genetics company that exports the product to international markets, said this week that Canada can expect short-term financial losses in the bull semen business because of foot-and-mouth disease. ARGENTINE FOOT-AND-MOUTH OUTBREAK AREAS "MORE THAN 110": OFFICIAL March 29, 2001 Agence France Presse English BUENOS AIRES, -- Areas of Argentina affected by outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease number "more than 110" the head of the country's food safety agency confirmed Thursday. The head of the National Food Safety and Quality Service, Hector Salamanco, made the public announcement Thursday, one day after the agency reported the number of outbreaks had risen to 92 and the same day local media had reported the impacted areas numbered 300. SASKATCHEWAN STUDY COMPARES MANURE AND COMMERCIAL FERTILIZER March 29, 2001 Farmscape (Episode 649) Bruce Cochrane A study underway in West Central Saskatchewan comparing the yield results of manure with commercial fertilizer is showing some interesting preliminary results. I'm Bruce Cochrane and this is Farmscape...a presentation of Manitoba's pork producers. I'll be back...in a moment. Under the study a typical three year supply of manure fertilizer was applied in one shot at four sites near Rosetown for comparison to a recommended annual rate of commercial fertilizer. PFRA District Soil Conservationist Dennis Haak says, once three crops have been harvested, an economic assessment will be conducted. In the first year we saw that the manured land yielded more and that's to be expected because of the high level of nutrients that are there initially. We also had good growing conditions that year with enough moisture so the crop was able to use a lot of the extra nutrients that were in the manure. We saw a good crop with the fertilizer but we saw even a better crop with the manured land. In the second year of the program it was a bit drier year. At two of our sites it was actually quite dry and we didn't see as big of a yield difference between the fertilized and the manured part and that's mainly because that moisture was a limiting factor. At all of the sites so far we've also been doing some soil sampling each year after harvest. So far, even after two years of doing this, on the manured land there are still quite a few nutrients left but most of those nutrients, pretty well all of them, are still within the rooting zone of the crop and they haven't leached down below the rooting zone so we're happy to notice that we don't see any environmental concerns coming out of this right now. Haak says manure application typically costs about 80 dollars an acre compared to about ten dollars for commercial fertilizer... He says at the end of the three years those extra costs will be assessed to determine to what extent they can be offset by increased yields. 'SNAILS LEFT BEHIND BY LIFE IN FAST LANE March 29, 2001 PA News Paul Sims and Anthony Barnes A TV presenter was, according to this story, shell-shocked today after being rebuked by animal welfare chiefs for abandoning a pair of jet-setting exotic snails in a hotel. Staff at the Leeds Hilton found the African snails had been left behind and called in RSCPA officials to care for them. MTV host Russell Brand has now claimed the creatures but the charity criticised the broadcaster -- who took them on tour for nine days -- for failing to take more care of them. The snails, called Handsome and Foxy, were found in a shoebox in the hotel room after Brand headed to his next location as he filmed a series of stunts for a new series, Jackass. They had been living life in the fast lane, flying with him between Dublin, Belfast, Cardiff and Bristol but are now being cared for at the RSPCA centre in Leeds. DAYDAY HEADS HOG WASTE VENTURE: COMPANY HOPES TO PRODUCE HEAT, LIGHT AND FERTILIZER FROM MANURE FOR STATE-OF-ART BARNS March 29, 2001 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) A3 / Front Murray Lyons Global Recycling Technologies Inc. (GRT), led by Saskatoon's former mayor, Henry Dayday, has, according to this story, set out to prove anaerobic digestion of hog manure can produce heat, light and odour-free fertilizer, and ease environmental concerns about large-scale hog barns The story says that the Saskatoon company was advanced hundreds of thousands of dollars Wednesday in "repayable investments'' from both federal and provincial programs. GRT will spend $1.5 million to retrofit the Great West Stock Farm pig barn in Broderick, 100 kilometres south of Saskatoon. The barn is owned by local investors and managed by Outlook-based Quadra Group, which manages 18 pig production facilities across Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The GRT and Quadra partnership is getting about half of the funds from a variety of government programs, including the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) of the federal Western Diversification Department. The province, which has pushed development of large-scale hog barns as a rural development strategy, is helping to the tune of $225,000, partly through the provincial Agriculture Department's technology adoption and demonstration fund. Agriculture Minister Clay Serby was cited as praising the technology for its potential to reduce odour while safely disposing of manure. ARRAIGNMENT ON DOG DEATH CHARGES DELAYED FOR COUPLE March 29, 2001 Reuters Andrew Quinn SAN FRANCISCO -- The scheduled arraignment of two San Francisco lawyers charged with murder and manslaughter after their dogs mauled a neighbor to death was postponed for two weeks on Thursday to give their attorney time to review the case. Marjorie Knoller, 45, and husband Robert Noel, 59, were indicted by a grand jury Tuesday for the Jan. 26 death of Diane Whipple, a 33-year-old lacrosse coach who was killed by the couple's two huge dogs after Knoller lost control of them in the hallway of their apartment building. Knoller faces one charge of second degree murder as well as charges of involuntary manslaughter and possession of a mischievous animal. Noel, who was not present at the time of the attack, was indicted on the second two charges. YEARS OF RESEARCH SHOW PETS CAN IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH March 27, 2001 Mayo Clinic ROCHESTER, MINN. -- If you have a pet, chances are you're reaping health benefits from the relationship, according to the April issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource. Research over the past 20 years has revealed a number of health benefits derived from animal companions. For example: Older people with pets were more active and less likely to be depressed than their peers without pets. Pet owners with AIDS were less likely to be depressed than those without pets. Stockbrokers with high blood pressure who adopted a pet were better able to control their high blood pressure than stockbrokers without pets. People with pets have been shown to have lower cholesterol and blood pressure, reducing the risk of heart disease. Pets aren't for everyone, but if you are considering the addition of a pet to your household, pick one that fits your preferences and lifestyle. It doesn't have to be a cat or dog. One large research study showed that birds and fish can offer the same type of health benefits. To subscribe to AnimalNet, send mail to: (subscription is free) listserv@listserv.uoguelph.ca leave subject line blank in the body of the message type: subscribe animalnet-L firstname lastname i.e. subscribe animalnet -L Wendy Powell To unsubscribe to AnimalNet, send mail to: listserv@listserv.uoguelph.ca leave subject line blank in the body of the message type: signoff animalnet-L For more information about the AnimalNet research program, please contact: Dr. Douglas Powell dept. of plant agriculture University of Guelph Guelph, Ont. N1G 2W1 tel: 519-824-4120 x2506 fax: 519-763-8933 dpowell@uoguelph.ca http://www.plant.uoguelph.ca/safefood archived at: http://www.plant.uoguelph.ca/safefood/archives/animalnet-archives.htm