Shambo - TB reactor - Passing the bullock. (2nd post)

Shambo the cow that has tested positive for tb should be destroyed, yet still nothing has been done on this. David Miliband passed the buck on the tb reactor Shambo, giving us this fine piece of fluff: http://www.davidmiliband.defra.gov.uk/blogs/ministerial_blog/archive/2007/05/11/9431.aspx

• Mahatma Gandhi, truly one of the great figures of the 20th century, believed that the protection of cows was one of the true signs of the Hindu faith. It is for that reason that the case of Shambo, reported in many newspapers, raises such a high degree of concern for many British Hindus. Their representatives have written to me about their concern.
• Shambo is part of a herd of cattle cared for by the Skanda Vale Temple in Wales. Shambo has tested positive for bovine TB, which as many people know is a serious contagious disease that can spread to other animals. That is why it is normal practice for cattle in such cases to be humanely slaughtered to stop further spread of the disease.
• Since Shambo is a Welsh cow the matter comes under the jurisdiction of the Welsh Assembly (though EU rules apply to them in the same way as to English authorities). The decision in this case will therefore come before Welsh Ministers when the new Welsh Assembly Government is formed.

Again I ask why is the Welsh Assembly doing nothing except issueing pr statements rather than putting this tb reactor to sleep? The law is quite simple if a bovine has tb and this one does it has to be destroyed in the name of public health.

From the Defra site, an overview of bovine TB in the UK: During the 1930s, a large proportion of dairy cows were infected with M. bovis. Many were kept near large cities to provide urban dwellers with fresh milk and most were closely confined, in poorly ventilated cowsheds, which are ideal conditions for the disease to spread. Many infected cows developed TB in the udders and shed M. bovis in the milk. Because most milk was drunk raw (untreated), milk-borne human M. bovis infection was a major public health risk and an important source of TB in humans. During this time, over 50,000 new cases of human TB were recorded each year in Great Britain and it was estimated that 2,500 people were dying annually from TB caused by M. bovis.

To try to control the problem, in 1935 the Government introduced a voluntary TB testing scheme for cattle. Any animals that were positive to these tests were slaughtered. To try to stop bTB spreading to other herds, cattle were not allowed to be moved from farms affected with bTB.

This testing and slaughter programme became compulsory in 1950 and by 1980 it had reduced the national incidence of TB in cattle to a very low level. In addition to this, routine pasteurisation (heat treatment) of cows’ milk and inspection of cattle carcases at slaughterhouses were gradually put in place to further protect public health.

Try not to let this bovine breath on you.

Yet the wooley headed pc brigage and the weak willed politicos in the Welsh Assembly do nothing, despite the dangers to public health. We hear a lot about not wanting to offend the group who own Shambo yet why does that take second place to public safety?

I am sure our politicians would not like another outbreak amongst the human population, or do they value an animal over human life? TB can be passed from cattle to humans by aerosols. Any human affected can become a carrier without showing signs of the disease.

He/She then puts other humans at risk every time they sneeze, especially children, whose mothers may have umnfortunately decided not to vaccinate them. Also, there is an understandable reluctance to treat cattle with the necessary drugs because of the real risk and probability that the strain of TB becomes resistant to that drug.

The cull is done at an early stage because by the time the disease shows, infection may have spread out of control. It is common sense. I find it very hard to believe that thinking Hindus are oblivious to these matters. Just because it is a religious practice doesn't make it above the law.

**Any chance we can also put Miliband to sleep as well?

**Previous post: on tb reactor Shambo

**Update - Steak back on the menu: Shambo to walk the green mile.

THE decision to slaughter Shambo the temple bull was “justified”, the Court of Appeal ruled today.

The six-year-old bull, revered by Hindu monks at the Skanda Vale Community in Llanpumsaint, west Wales, was given a reprieve last week.

But the Welsh Assembly Government, which served the slaughter order in May after Shambo tested positive for exposure to bovine tuberculosis (BTB), decided to appeal.

Today judges sitting in London upheld the appeal in a ruling that could be the death sentence for Shambo...

Tags: Shambo bovineTB Skandavale

David Miliband

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