On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:36:45 +0100, "Pat Gardiner"
<patgardiner@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>"Old Codger" <oldcodger@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>news:ve9c04drv0jng4abdnev582iin9fcg6uld@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> Squalor, Misery, Disease and Death: the reality of British pig farms
>> Last week, Animal Aid visited a typical pig farm in order to compare
>> the welfare standards we found with those claimed by the pig farming
>> industry in recent weeks. The conditions we witnessed are a world away
>> from those featured in the 'Pigs Are Worth It' campaign.
>>
>> A dead sow was dumped outside the units, while row upon row of new
>> mothers lay trapped in filthy, barren farrowing crates, barely able to
>> move. Bin bags containing dead piglets and stillborn litters swept up
>> with the trash lay alongside dustbins overflowing with discarded
>> veterinary products. This is the reality of British pig farms and it
>> is a disgrace. And still pig farmers claim we have the 'best animal
>> welfare standards in the world'. That would be funny if the reality
>> wasn't so tragic.
>>
>
>>snip detail<
>
>I have been wondering how to reply to this in a constructive unemotional
>way. The photos tell their own story. It is hard.
>
>I think the wisest thing is to confine my comments to two areas where I
have
>knowledge.
>
>1. The advertising is directly controlled by the government (Defra). They
>will deny that, but they refused to allow the industry to elect the
chairman
>of BPEX, insisting on an appointee of theirs and the advertising is paid
>for by the levy, the collection of which is authorised by legislation.
So
>the industry pays, the government decides.
>
>BPEX has a history of misleading advertising and falling foul of the
>Advertising Standards Authority.
>
>I was, as you know a serious businessman with quite a substantial
>advertising budget, and the advertising is a complete waste of money. If
we
>still had pigs, I would be going crazy at the thought of paying for all
this
>nonsense.
>
>It is what I call ego-stroking. Designed to keep the pig farmers quiet
>rather than doing anything to keep their costs down and sales up.
>
>2. On the assumption that the pictures and the story are reasonably
accurate
>and recent, the pictures of the discarded drug packaging tells the story.
>The pigs are sick. They have been sick since 1999 and the epidemic
>continuing to this very day has been covered up by Britain's corrupt
State
>Veterinary Service.
>
>Because the pigs are sick (with a newly mutated disease) they have to be
>stuffed full of antibiotics to keep them alive. The human risks are
>multiple. Is the disease dangerous to humans? Is the action taken to keep
>the pigs alive dangerous? Do the pigs have MRSA (the Canadians and Dutch
>pigs do.) as a result of all the antibiotics being used?
>
>The government vets have refused to test British pigs for MRSA. The Food
>Standards Agency won't test the ****k. The NHS won't test pig and ****k
>workers at the hospital door. Countries with pigs and MRSA like Denmark
test
>their workers and have little or no problems with MRSA in their
hospitals.
>
>3. The vets were so keen to cover it up, that as long ago as 2000 they
were
>threatening anyone that gave evidence to a Select Committee criticising
the
>State Veterinary Service. They were so keen they employed a former acting
>colonel of the SAS to come to our home. The subsequent internal
>investigation was a cover-up with the Scottish Executive investigating
>criminal offences committed by Westminster vets in England. That is
illegal.
>
>It took OLAF - the serious fraud squad of the EU - to raid a government
>office before we got them off our back. Britain was subsequently fined
600
>million Pounds for various offences during this period covering a range
of
>irregularities.
>
>Obviously now MRSA has entered the picture there is total panic in Defra.
>They could not even get a replacement Chief Vet. Nobody wants the job.
Can
>you blame them? They know they are going to be caught and prosecuted
>probably at an international Court (They will also have ex****ted sick
pigs
>with clean health certificates.)
>
>Anyway they have to so something about the pigs very quickly. The
situation
>of MRSA in pigs and ****k is running out of control in Canada and the US,
>with 25,000 piglets being culled every week, because the Americans won't
buy
>Canadian pigs or ****k, after a new labelling regulation comes in which
>identifies it as Canadian.
>
>It is a mess and getting worse by the day. Some days, I wake up, shake my
>head, and wonder just what kind of a country we live in.
>
>I do not know how people can do such bad things and still keep going to
>work.
I gave up shaking my head when it fell off long ago. I'm stunned at
the depths Britain has descended.
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