CNN - 'Mad cow' slaughter off to slow start

'Mad cow' slaughter off to slow start

May 2, 1996
Web posted at: 11:50 p.m. EDT (0350 GMT)

BANBURY, England (CNN) -- Efforts to begin slaughtering cows linked to the so-called "mad cow" disease got off to a rocky start Thursday, sparking renewed criticism that Prime Minister John Major's government was dragging its feet on the issue.

No cows have been killed yet, though the government says the program is officially under way and Agriculture Minister Douglas Hogg said the slaughter would likely start Thursday.

The British government wants to keep cattle older than 30 months from entering the food chain. Its plan to deal with the mad cow crisis includes a voluntary cull of older cattle.

The government's plan calls for markets to be used as collection centers. Farmers will bring their cattle in on designated days, the market will reimburse the farmer and in turn, the government will reimburse the market.

But Major's opponents have criticized the plan. "At the moment, it appears pretty inept," Tony Blair, leader of the opposition Labor Party, said in the House of Commons.

Farmers are not too thrilled, either. Farmer Brian Smith says he is totally in the dark about the plan. "I just don't know how they work the figures out and I don't follow their reasoning at all through the whole system," he said.

Farmer Sue Fraser says she thinks the slaughter is only to appease the European Union, which has imposed a ban on British beef.

She and other farmers, many of who face financial ruin, say reimbursement will help but not really compensate for the loss of a herd.

"All my cattle are fed on homegrown hay, barley ... yet because the prime steers have reached two and a half years of age, they've got to be killed and burned -- the only crime is because they've reached two and a half years of age."

-- British farmer John Tustian

Britain's beef business was severely hit by the scare over mad cow disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, after the government said several people could have caught a fatal brain disease from infected cattle.

It was in part to reduce public fears over the disease and to lift the ban on British beef that Major's conservative government embarked on an ambitious slaughter plan.

The government expects that some 42,000 cows with possible links to BSE will be slaughtered in coming months. In addition, up to 15,000 older cattle a week may be slaughtered.

The animals will be killed with a special pistol. The cattle will then be ground up and either incinerated or buried, said Jean Auty, a spokeswoman for Britain's Intervention Board, which is handling the slaughter.

Many farmers are bitter about the impending slaughter of healthy cattle, but, at the same time, fear even that will not be enough to bring back consumer confidence -- at home and abroad.

The embattled industry got a minor boost Thursday when the hamburger chain Wimpy said it would put British beef back on the menu. But Burger King and McDonald's say they are not about to follow suit, yet.

CNN Correspondent Margaret Lowrie and Reuters contributed to this report.

Related stories:

Ban on British beef remains, despite mad cow culling plan - April 29, 1996
EU agrees to fund slaughter of millions of British cattle - April 3, 1996
Britain struggles to get past crisis of confidence in beef - March 29, 1996
EU issues worldwide ban on British beef exports - March 26, 1996

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'Mad cow' slaughter off to slow start

"All my cattle are fed on homegrown hay, barley ... yet because the prime steers have reached two and a half years of age, they've got to be killed and burned -- the only crime is because they've reached two and a half years of age."

Related stories:

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