{"id":754587,"date":"2018-09-12T09:31:40","date_gmt":"2018-09-12T13:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/arkcenter.us\/?p=754587"},"modified":"2018-09-12T09:31:58","modified_gmt":"2018-09-12T13:31:58","slug":"hunting-hounds-the-not-so-secret-reason-farmers-cant-control-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=754587","title":{"rendered":"Hunting hounds: The not so secret reason UK farmers can\u2019t control disease"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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Fallen 'stock' contains disease which is then passed onto the dogs. Many of these diseases will then be put back into the countryside as the dogs do what dogs do while running across farm to farm on a day\u2019s hunting.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\n

CHRIS PITT:<\/strong> ‘There is a painful truth about disease in the UK countryside. These diseases among farm animals cause death and financial loss on a huge scale… One way that disease can spread has been identified as a problem for many years. Traditionally, fox hunts in the UK have offered \u2018a service\u2019 to farms to take away livestock that has died. These animals \u2013 known as \u2018fallen stock\u2019 \u2013 are then fed to the hunts\u2019 packs of hounds. This saves the farms money as they don\u2019t have to incinerate the bodies, and it saves the hunts money on dog food. However, there\u2019s a problem. It\u2019s been known for decades that fallen stock contains disease which is then passed onto the dogs. Many of these diseases will then be put back into the countryside as the dogs do what dogs do while running across farm to farm on a day\u2019s hunting.<\/em><\/p>\n

For some diseases, such as equine hydatidosis, feeding hounds on raw meat and offal after the Second World War was the major factor leading to a dramatic increase in both the prevalence and distribution of the disease. For diseases such as ovine hydatidosis and sheep tapeworms that cause a major economic loss to farmers, hunts make a significant contribution to maintaining and spreading the infections. Twenty years ago the EU\u2019s Scientific Steering Committee said that, because it was impossible to determine the cause of death for each animal, fallen stock should not be fed to hounds.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s therefore known to be a problem \u2013 potentially hundreds of thousands of deceased animals are fed to hunting hounds. Examples of diseases which can be spread between livestock and dogs include Neosporosis, Sarcocystosis, Cysticercus ovis, Johne\u2019s disease and Toxoplasmosis to name but a few. Most of us won\u2019t recognise these diseases \u2013 but farmers will know exactly the damage they cause. It\u2019s clear that the feeding of fallen stock to hunting hounds poses a clear and present danger to the health of both livestock and dogs. So why has it been allowed to continue?’<\/em> SOURCE…<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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