- Hello Jeff - This is so useless. Haven't they learned
yet that killing off all animals in one zone does NOT work - never has
- and will not prevent the spread of prion disease.
-
- It is so sad to see all of those beautiful and massive
animals killed off in such a barbaric manner. What kind of person takes
a position as a federal sharpshooter and kills 700 elk without feelings??
Oh, yeah..."I'm just doing my job." Sad.
-
- Entire kill zones don't work.
-
- The disease is now in the soil and environment.
-
- It spreads as animals graze.
-
- Patty
-
-
- Sharpshooters Begin Destroying Elk Herd
- By Doug Smith
- Star Tribune
- September 22, 2009
-
- In January, a female at the farm near Pine Island was
found to have CWD, a fatal brain disease. A USDA agency is killing all
700 elk.
-
- Federal sharpshooters have begun destroying a herd of
about 700 elk on a farm in southeastern Minnesota where chronic wasting
disease (CWD) was discovered this year.
-
- Sharpshooters with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Wildlife Services shot elk Friday and Monday on the farm off Hwy. 52 near
Pine Island, after the federal agency reached an agreement with the herd's
owners concerning compensation and cleanup. A cow elk at Elk Farm LLC --
the largest such farm in the state -- was found to have the disease in
January, and the herd has been quarantined since.
-
- The 1,300-acre farm was purchased in 2006 by Tower Investments
of Woodland, Calif., and is part of 2,300 acres the firm plans to develop
north of Rochester for a bioscience research and manufacturing center called
Elk Run. It would include 15 to 25 bioscience companies, as well as offices,
shops and homes, officials say.
-
- "This is very sad situation for all of us at Tower
Investments," project manager Geoff Griffin said.
-
- "But it's totally out of our control. The good thing
is, it does not affect our development."
-
- All of the elk will be killed over the next 10 days or
so and tested for the fatal brain disease, then will be disposed of, said
Paul Anderson, assistant director of the Minnesota Board of Animal Health.
None of the meat can be salvaged for human consumption.
-
- "There's no evidence that it causes disease in people,"
Anderson said, "but with a known infected herd, we just would not
take any risks with humans."
-
- Tower Investments will be compensated for the animals
by the Agriculture Department. Federal officials said Monday that they're
unsure what the total cost will be.
-
- http://www.startribune.com/local/60059847.
- html?elr=KArks:DCiUMEaPc:UiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
-
-
- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural
Economics Univ of West Indies Please visit my "Emerging Diseases"
message board at: http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php Also
my new website: http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/ Zhan le Devlesa tai
sastimasa Go with God and in Good Health
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