crufts dog show

Carrie...all I can say is that I am so, so sorry. I continue to read about this every day, and wait for your posts as well. Please know that we continue to pray for each person and animal that is affected by this terrible, terrible plague.
Logan

When will all this end? http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/frown.gif

[This message has been edited by Sudilar (edited April 02, 2001).]

I thought I read there's a vaccination but even then, there would be no way to distinguish carriers? In this day and age..no way to stop the spread? I think of you, Carrie every day-you know that-and I too am praying for an end to this. i can't even imagine. It's a living nightmare, you're right. My heart just goes out to you and everyone affected!

The death toll rises day by day
Not just animals are going, we fear
But pride and honor, love and heart
Are being lost to dread disease and slow action

The death toll rises every day
Never it seems, will it ever end but
How can it not, we hope we pray
For the death toll to fall tommorow

The death toll rises with every post
And still on farm after farm, they cry
And watch the morning sunrise as they sit
With forced-idle hands and sad weary eyes

The death toll rises, engraved upon the hearts
Engraved upon the minds of all who hear
And in uninfected places we watch the lambkins
With now-guarded joy, tinged always with fear

Our hearts ache for yours, across the pond
And please know that we'd do whatever we could
But for now, you and we sit, calloused hands virtually tied
And wait for the tide to ebb, and hope begin again

I'd give you my heart, if it would heal yours
I'd send you a lamb if we knew it would be safe
And if I were a scientist, I'd work day and night
To find a cure, to find a way, to save those lovely dark liquid eyes
From breaking anymore hearts, from going dull, and closing in death
I would, and yet I can't, but we will continue, every day
To hold you in our hearts, and promise to treasure those that are still safe.

My heart goes out to you Carrie, it's bad enough hearing about it but living right in the middle of it must be absolutely horrible.

Gio

I agree with Gio. I hate to even read these posts and I can't fathom having to live them. These numbers are staggering. My heart goes out to all your countrymen.

I logged on to give you all an update. I read your posts and am touched all over again at how much you all care - I have sent your messages on.
Karen you have the words that I don't and you capture every feeling exactly - it means an awful lot to people who feel - no ARE - so isolated that they feel their own families slipping away. All of you can not imagine what your thoughts and expressions of, not sympathy, but understanding mean to families that are not even headline news anymore. The crisis is but not the people and not the animals - it is a clinical war on a scale of numbers. Your human touch of feeling and the very fact that people outside of this country are thinking of the people affected is a boost that you can not even begin to understand - thank you all.

I have people on the phone and on my email 24 hours a day now and all want to know what the people on this site have to say.

Thank you.

My post is, sadly, two milestones passed in the last couple of days.
We now have over a thousand farms that are confirmed as having Foot and Mouth.

A million animals are in the catergory of either being killed already or waiting for slaughter.

It has also come to light today that an area in Sussex, usually used as a domestic rubbish landfill site, has already buried 2,500 sheep. This is an area that has shown no signs of the disease and people are, obviously, worried about the spread of disease as well as the lack of information.

Vaccination, thank goodness, seems to be off the agenda.

All sport pitches, football pitches, cricket pitches, running tracks etc. are off limits in our area now - £5000 if you are caught on any grass area!!
The Cheltenham Festival is cancelled (horse racing) as it is now within a restricted area.
The Grand National is going ahead - next Saturday - with four runners from Ireland that have no access back to Ireland after the race and will have to find stabling in England until restrictions are lifted.

We now have 1,138 farms that have been confirmed as having Foot and Mouth on the premises and have lost all their stock. There is still no let up and the future is looking bleak.

There has now been 1204 confirmed cases of Foot and Mouth.

The authorities are investigating 309 cases of alleged illegal movements of livestock. There has been some suggestions that certain farmers have faked the symptoms of the disease to claim the higher compensation rate given for diseased animals rather than settle for the lower rate given in welfare cases. It has also been claimed that animals have been illegally moved to high risk areas in order that they are exposed to the virus. This is a way of infecting their own stock and claiming the larger compensation package.
As you can imagine the farming community country wide is outraged. Farmers leaders have accepted that there has been a few cases of farmers breaking the law rather than see their animals die in appalling conditions in the fields. To think that anyone would spread this disease on purpose shows how out of touch the Government is with the real countryside.

Oh, Carrie, even more tragedy added to the situation! This is just so overwhelming!

Carrie, so sorry the situation has not improved, I check every day to see if there is a post from you saying the tide has turned for the better. All of our prayers are with you.

The relentless march goes on - 1234 cases now.
Easter holidays abroad have seen a huge increase deepening the problems faced by our tourist industry. If it stopped tomorrow I can't even guess how long it will take us to recover from this.

Again let me thank all of you who show such support and caring, it is valued and appreciated.

There are now 1,259 cases confirmed.

The prediction now is that around a third of all British farms will be affected by the time this is over.

Farmers are very angry that the authorities are getting slower rather than quicker at responding to new cases. All animals on an infected farm should be slaughtered within 24hours and those on adjacent farms within 48hours. This is still not happening and this is why many farmers believe the spread continues.

Carrie I heard a shocking story but only one time .Maybe you could let us know if you've heard it. It seems that a vial of the virus is missing from you minstry of medicine. It was so concentrated that it could be used to infect all of europe. Have you heard anything about this? If it's true , you all need an old fashion lynching like we did here in the west. Corinna, praying for all of you and you critters. Ps I just remembered that Lamas are cloven hooved are they killing them also?

Carrie, Thank you again for keeping us current on your devastating condition. Its hard to even imagin what its like. But we continue to think of you everyday and hope it will end soon.

Carrie, as I have said so many, many times before, I just wait for the day when you can say all is well. The Farmers in your country have had so much pain that I don't think we can really understand, all that we can hope for is that it will end soon.

As of yesterday the total is 1306 infected farms.

I have not heard any reports of missing virus from any source but will try and verify. I think it is unlikely as if such an massive risk was imminent I'm sure it would be headline news here.

At the moment we are waiting to hear if a suspect case of swine fever is confirmed. Our last outbreak of this disease last year ended with the slaughter of 36,000 pigs.

Llamas are in danger of Foot and Mouth and are treated the same as pigs, cows and sheep.

As more livestock are being buried in mass pits fears about leakage and contamination from these sites are growing. Massive amounts of disinfectant are also being sprayed liberally - 40 years worth of chemicals have been sold in the last 6 months - contamination of water courses is now a major concern too.

We are all hoping for the day I can report some good news....may it be soon.

From your numbers, maybe it seems like it's slowing down? I do hope so very much that the disease will not spread further, and that ways can be found to contain the virus. Is anyone reportedly working on a cure?

1341 cases as of yesterday so, yes it does seem that the daily number is starting to fall slightly. It will need to fall a lot more before anyone here is convinced that the tide has turned though.

There are now 3 cases confirmed and two suspected in Northern Ireland. This is worrying as they are 50 - 60 miles apart and appear to have no connection to each other.

1363 cases have now been confirmed.

The Government and farming unions are at loggerheads over the issue of vaccination. The Government is keen to start limited vaccinations in Cumbria and Devon to, as they say, create a firewall to stop the spread. Ben Gill, the President of the National Famers Union, has expressed fears that this option throws up so many unknown factors it would be like throwing a ball onto a roulette wheel and hoping it comes up trumps.
Welfare issues are also thought to be a major influence on the Government. Cattle that have been inside for the winter are running out of feed but can't be moved due to the restrictions. Farmers are asking for many of these animals to be slaughtered rather than let them suffer. If they were vaccinated they could be put out to grass. They would then be slaughtered at a later date. Concerns are that the vaccination is very unsafe, carriers would remain in the herd, consumers would not want milk or meat from these animals and it would encourage rather than stop the disease spreading.

There are now 1412 confirmed cases of Foot and Mouth.

1,807,000 animals have been slaughtered or have been identified as awaiting slaughter.

1,294,000 animals have actually been slaughtered.
264,000 of these are still awaiting disposal by burning or burial.
512,000 animals await slaughter.

These numbers are for animals on farms that have had a confirmed case of Foot and Mouth. They do not include the animals that live on the farms next to confirmed cases - these animals are also killed.

Farmers with healthy animals are getting to a point beyond desperation - fear that they will loose their animals although they may never get the disease is terrible. The conditions these animals are now living in is becoming too much for some farmers with no feed to give them and overcrowding issues. Some are threatening to move their animals out to the fields unless action is taken in the next few days and some are blockading their farms to stop the "men from the ministry" killing healthy animals.

Carrie, we are still following your posts and happy you can still let us know what is going on despite your pain.. I think we cannot think of any words to express the sorrow we feel for those farmers. All we can do is keep them in our prayers and hope it will end soon.

I love that show another show i love on animal planet is crocidle hunter

I just joined up on this site this week, and ran across this today. I want to say thank you. I have been hearing about this outbreak but never really knew what it was. It is horrible. I hope we can keep it out of the States. It is really sad to think of the animals that had to be killed over there because of this stuff, and the people that have suffered too. Thank you for explaining what this stuff is. Now when I hear people asking, I can spread the info.

The infection rate is slowing at last!

Total infected farms are now 1482 - that's over 2 million animals slaughtered.

But, as I said, at last there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

The blanket cull on farms next to infected farms has been stopped. Local vets will now take the decision into their own hands and decide on an individual basis whether it is beneficial to slaughter animals next to an infected area or safe to let them live.

Some stars have been found - a calf in Devon that somehow survived the slaughter on the farm it lives on (the herd was not infected but slaughtered as a precaution) survived for four days among the bodies before being found. She has been named Phoenix and is healthy. She will now be allowed to live.

Also in Devon there is a sheep and her lamb that escaped from the farmyard as the rest of the flock were slaughtered. She has escaped traps, sheep dogs and even a marksman sent in to shoot her - she too will now be allowed to live as long as she stays healthy.

This is not over and some experts are claiming that we will see a huge increase in the Autumn but at the moment it seems we are winning.

Hi Carrie, had been looking for you to post. That is good news, at least it is slowing down. I did see on the news about the calf
Phoenix who was being spared her life. Thank goodness for the good things. It is almost inconceivable that so many farms have been affected and so many animals have been slaughtered. Is the Government helping out the farmers who have lost everything? I would hope so. What a tremendous task they have to rebuild their lives and their farms.
Hopefully this dreaded disease will not come back in the fall. Our good wishes and prayers are with all of you.
http://schnauzerville.homestead.com/files/doggy8.gif

Finally, a little bit of good news!

Thanks as usual Carrie for your update. I am so relieved that things are slowly improving.

Saw a picture of Phoenix in today's newspaper. She's a beautiful white calf! I hope she's a sign that things will be better!

Yes, Phoenix' picture was in our paper as well. Maybe she can be a symbol of hope for better days to come.

Thank you all again for your interest and support. As always I am passing on all messages. Although I am not in direct contact with the people who own Phoenix I am told that they are amazed that people in the US have heard about her and even seen her picture.

Cumbria is still the main area of concern - all thirteen of todays new cases were in Cumbria.

The New Forest will allow cattle back in soon, maybe by Monday. This is incredible news for farmers in that area who rely on the forest for their animals. For the past seven weeks these cattle have been in holding yards. Food has run out and they are standing in a foot and a half of muck, some even calfing in these conditions. Many have died and many more have been put down to allieviate their suffering. Farmers here were threatening to break the law and let the cattle out to the forest.

There have been several reports of people having symptoms of Foot and Mouth - all have now been tested and all (six in all, I think) have proved negative.

70% of farmers affected by this outbreak say they will not return to farming. Many are tenant farmers with no home of their own, no business of their own and little or no savings or skills for other ways of life. Those that own their own farms will have to sell to a market that is rather against taking up farming at the moment(can't think why!!!!!) and a large chunk of British farmland is likely to be lost forever.

The news is good - we are getting somewhere - but in the months to come the cost to farming, animal welfare, bloodlines and the basic heart of the countryside will have to be counted, let alone the toll on families and individuals who have lived through the worst times farming has ever seen.

[This message has been edited by carrie (edited April 27, 2001).]

Hey carrie how are things going in the fight to save animals from hoof and mouth? Unless you've started reports on another place I've missed. We get more about our power crisis and not doing in Mcvay and not any thing about your side of the pond.
Corinna

I just heard on the news today that for the first time there were no new cases reported. Sorry I don't have more specifics as I just heard it in passing.

We miss you Carrie! Please post and tell us whats going on. Hope you are okay.

Carrie emailed me a week or so ago to say they were going to change their computer system, so she may be still getting the new system up and running! Just thought I'd let you all know that!

Thanks Karen,
I was wondering if she was alright.
Glad to know it is only computer
problems.
(I have been missing her posts too)

Thanks Karen I was begainning to worry also it's so horrible to hear but not hearing is worse. And thanks for the ok on the chins I sure will miss them , I don't watch tv so they have been my entertainment for a couple of years.

I do miss Carries posts, will be glad when she gets back on line.

Thank you all - I am back online (hopefully!) at last after some pretty major computer hassles.

Our current number of cases is 1624 with well over three million animals slaughtered. Very sad statistics but things seem to be improving.

Sadly an outbreak was reported in North Yorkshire today - sixteen farms are affected in a previously "safe" area. This is very worrying and devastating for farmers in the area just when they thought they had weathered the worst.

Carrie we missed you! Welcome back! I am glad things seem to be improving.