AnimalNet Dec. 21/03
Health
Canada suspends scientist; Microbiologist criticized Ottawa for failing to enact
animal feed ban
Government
orders chicken purchase to halt bird flu spread
Duplin
County, N.C., farmer finds way to remove odor, pollution from hog waste
Critic of
Tyson foods' practices isn't credible
Bacteria are
behind limp lobster disease
New 'Frankenpets'
include flea-free dogs
how to subscribe
Health
Canada suspends scientist; Microbiologist criticized Ottawa for failing to enact
animal feed ban
December 20, 2003
Globe and Mail
Paul Waldie
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20031220/CHOPRA20//?query=microbiologist
Shiv Chopra, a microbiologist in Health Canada's veterinary drugs directorate,
will, according to this story, be suspended without pay for a month beginning
Jan. 2 for criticizing the government publicly.
Chopra was cited as saying the suspension relates in part to comments he made
that department officials ignored internal calls for a ban on animal feeds
suspected of causing bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease.
The story adds it is the second suspension in a year for Mr. Chopra, who has a
long history of disputes with his supervisors.
Mr. Chopra, 70, who has been with Health Canada since 1969, was further cited as
saying that he will not stop speaking out, adding, "I don't speak out
indiscriminately. I never make irresponsible statements."
The tribunal ruled that public servants have loyalty obligations that restrict
their free speech.
Government
orders chicken purchase to halt bird flu spread
December 21, 2003
Agence France Presse English/ Reuters
SEOUL - An outbreak of a highly contagious strain of bird flu has, according to
these stories, spread in South Korea, which plans to slaughter hundreds of
thousands of ducks and chickens and disinfect farms to contain it.
Agriculture ministry officials were cited as reporting two new cases of the
virus, which can be deadly for humans, from one duck farm on Saturday and said
experts were testing for three more suspected cases at another.
An agriculture ministry official was quoted as saying, "The outcome showed
suspected cases tested positive for bird flu. There are about 16,000 ducks in
the farm which would all be destroyed."
The ministry said since these cases were confirmed, about 400,000 poultry in a
three-to-10 km (two-to-six mile) zone would be slaughtered.
The stories added that later on Saturday, the ministry said quarantine officials
were testing for three more suspected cases of the disease on a duck farm 24 km
(15 miles) away from the first confirmed case.
Prime Minister Goh Kun Sunday was cited as ordering the purchase of 2.5 million
chickens to be slaughtered in a bid to halt a bird flu outbreak that is
spreading through South Korea.
The order came at a meeting of Goh and other ministers after two more farms were
confirmed hit by the virus, bringing to five the total number of poultry farms
struck by the H5N1 virus which is potentially deadly to humans.
Government officials were also asked to collect blood samples from all South
Korean poultry farms, Goh's office said, in efforts to check on the extent of
the disease's spread.
The purchase is also hoped to stabilise chicken prices, which have tumbled since
the flu outbreak began last week.
Duplin
County, N.C., farmer finds way to remove odor, pollution from hog waste
December 19, 2003
Knight-Ridder Tribune
Greg Barnes, The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.
The future of hog farming in North Carolina could, according to this story, be
taking shape on Lewis Fetterman's farm in Duplin County.
The story explains that since 1997, Fetterman, the former president of Lundy
Packing Co., a slaughterhouse in Clinton, has been trying to find an economical
way to take odor and pollution out of hog waste.
A prototype of his brainchild rests on a farm near Warsaw, a labyrinth of pipes
and tanks that is capable of removing most of the nitrogen, phosphorous and
disease-carrying organisms from hog waste. The remaining sludge would be turned
into potting soil at a farm near Clinton.
The story explains that Fetterman's is just one of 18 "environmentally
superior technologies" being explored to replace or vastly improve the
lagoon and spray-field system for hog systems under an agreement between
Smithfield Foods, Premium Standard Farms and the state Attorney General's
Office.
Mike Williams, director of the Animal and Poultry Waste Management Center at
N.C. State University and the head of a panel that is expected to choose the
best projects, was cited as saying that many of the projects show tremendous
promise, and that to be successful, the systems are expected to substantially
reduce odor and the emissions of ammonia, metals and harmful microorganisms into
the air and water.
The story says that one method separates the solid waste from the liquid and
uses the treated nutrients to grow tomatoes or other vegetables in greenhouses.
Another system sifts out the solids and filters the liquids through a man-made
wetland. Still others involve burning the solid manure and converting it into
fuels, such as ethanol.
In addition to the 18 systems funded by the Smithfield-Prestage settlement, work
began last month on another process funded through a $340,000 grant to an
unlikely partnership. The environmental organization Save Our State and a group
of independent and contract hog growers called Front Line Farmers are working
together on a waste-disposal method to replace lagoons and spray fields while
being affordable to small hog operations.
Critic
of Tyson foods' practices isn't credible
December 20, 2003
LA Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/letters/la-le-nicholson20dec20,1,6352685.story?coll=la-news-comment-letters
Ed Nicholson, Director of Media and Community Relations, Tyson Foods Springdale,
Ark., writes that the Times gave front-page coverage to a former Tyson Foods
employee who makes completely unsubstantiated claims about our treatment of
animals ("A Killing Floor Chronicle," Dec. 8). As the extensive
correction of Dec. 13 makes clear, the former employee repeatedly lied about the
most basic facts of his life, claiming to have served in military combat and to
have murdered a man, neither of which is true. The correction should give pause
to any who are tempted to believe the baseless allegations of radical animal
activists.
Tyson Foods is proud of our efforts to provide Americans with food that is safer
and more affordable than ever before. The vast majority of Americans choose to
eat meat. Unable to convince Americans to radically alter their diets, certain
animal rights groups instead choose to attack those of us who work in animal
agriculture. The simple truth is that it is not possible to produce meat
products without killing livestock. That should surprise no one.
Nicholson says that we and others in our industry work hard to ensure that all
reasonable efforts are made to do our work as humanely as possible. Our
facilities are regularly audited by teams of outside animal welfare experts, and
we work with the most noted academics in the field to ensure that we utilize the
most advanced techniques available. In addition, we have established an office
of animal well-being responsible for ensuring that best practices in animal
handling are followed at all of our locations.
Bacteria
are behind limp lobster disease
The Gazette (Montreal)
Sun 21 Dec 2003
Page: D6
Source: Washington Post
Maine lobsters have long been plagued by an ailment called gaffkemia, a
bacterial disease that kills the crusty animals after turning their bluish blood
pink. But lobster catchers from the region have been perplexed by the emergence
of a new fatal disease - one that causes weakness and lethargy and has come to
be known as limp lobster disease.
Now researchers have found the culprits: several never-before identified strains
of bacteria. They are still unnamed but are related to another bacterium, Vibrio
fluvialis. In the December issue of Applied and Environmental Microbiology, the
researchers report it is not clear why the bacteria suddenly appeared in the
region in 1997, but global climate changes may have played a role.
New
'Frankenpets' include flea-free dogs
December 21, 2003
The Calgary Herald
A2
Source: Times of London
Scientists in the United States believe, according to this story, they are close
to a high-tech cure for the most common curse on man's best friend,
ctenocephalides canis, the common dog flea.
Jerry Yang, an expert in genetically modified animals at the University of
Connecticut, was cited as saying he hopes to produce a flea-repellent strain of
dog within 10 years.
In a first step, Yang and his business partners believe they have identified a
gene in cats that, if removed, stops them shedding the hair and fragments of
skin that cause allergic reactions. The world's first "non-allergenic"
cat could follow within two years.
This, in turn, should help the team devise genetic modifications that could make
dogs less attractive to fleas.
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