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Web posted Friday, April 27, 2001

State Veterinarian, PETA Head Differ On Outbreak

By STEVEN BARRETT Associated Press Writer

SIOUX FALLS -- What some animal rights activists call simple logic state Veterinarian Sam Holland calls dangerous extremism.

On Thursday, Ingrid Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, renewed her claim that an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the United States would benefit herds by sparing them from a tortured existence and the slaughterhouse.

A PETA spokesman said it's inconceivable that anyone would fail to see the sense of Newkirk's statements, which have rankled politicians and livestock farmers from Texas to Canada.

But Holland finds PETA's reasoning self-contradictory and far outside the mainstream. And he said an outbreak would spell disaster not only for ranchers but for the state's economy as a whole.

In a telephone interview from Richmond, Va., Newkirk reiterated her hope that foot-and-mouth -- which has ravaged herds in Europe -- reaches U.S. shores.

''It's a peculiar and disturbing thing to say, but it would be less than truthful if I pretended otherwise,'' she said.

People would be better off without meat because it is tied to a host of ailments, Newkirk said. And animals would benefit because the current means of raising and slaughtering livestock are ''grotesquely cruel from start to finish.''

She shied away, however, from advocating that someone deliberately introduce the disease to American herds.

''We're perfectly peaceful. We operate legally,'' Newkirk said of PETA.

In recent months, hundreds of thousands of animals have been destroyed in response to an outbreak of the disease in Europe. It has not been found in the United States since 1929, and Holland said he has no evidence that it has ever appeared in South Dakota.

Foot-and-mouth disease strikes animals such as sheep, pigs and cows, killing them or reducing their production of milk and meat. It is easily transmitted by wind, people and cars and spread by contaminated hay, water and manure. Humans almost never contract it.

Despite vows that PETA will obey the law, Holland worries that animal rights activists could deliberately bring the disease to America. And that could be crippling in a state where cattle outnumber humans 5-to-1.

''An outbreak period, no matter if it were isolated or not, would be disastrous at least short-term in terms of the economic viability of the industry,'' he said.

''In terms of being able to trade, we'd immediately lose a lot of our exports.''

That loss would ripple throughout the economy, Holland said. Cash receipts for livestock and livestock products including things like dairy and eggs totaled about $1.56 billion in the state in 1998, according to the South Dakota Agricultural Statistics Service.

''That's why it's important that not just people in the livestock industry be concerned,'' he said.

How serious PETA is about wanting the disease to reach America -- or whether some of its members would try to make that happen -- is hard to discern, Holland added.

''I think you need to be concerned. That sort of comments are reflective of the extreme position that that organization holds. It's reflective of how far out of mainstream society that group is,'' he said.

What's more, it violates the group's stated aim of protecting animals.

''It's contradictory by virtue of the fact that they do purport to be advocates of animal welfare,'' Holland said.

That's the balancing act PETA has to undertake, said Bruce Friedrich, Washington, D.C.-based coordinator for PETA's campaign to persuade consumers to avoid eating animal products.

''These animals suffer unmitigated misery throughout their lives, during transport to slaughter and in slaughterhouses where they're routinely skinned and dismembered while conscious,'' Friedrich said in a phone interview. ''Anything that accelerates the demise of the meat industry ... is a very good thing.''

He said Newkirk's hope that the disease comes to the United States is right on target.

''I can't imagine anybody who cares about animals arguing with that statement.''

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-- Anonymous, April 27, 2001

Answers

Hi Big K, Some ten or 15 years ago, i recall one of the more radical animal rights groups in the area where i live, being interviewed.. The reporter asked what i took to be a "devils advocate" question.. Well what about plants, do they have rights too.. The answer was to the effect, and with what i took for some enthusiam, "who knows where this movement will lead"..

Indeed, who knows where the crusade will end

I think they are more polished in spin now and advocate "biodiversity", while at the same time we have the agenda to genetically modify everything in sight.

cheers brent

-- Anonymous, April 28, 2001