Minister was blind to Science
A WAR of words has broken out between the Australian Racing Board and the
Federal Government over Australia's quarantine standards and their role in
the outbreak of equine influenza.
See the full article in the Sydney Morning Herald at:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/horseracing/truss-was-blind-to-science-says-board/2007/11/05/1194117959658.html
The article continues: “The board accused the former minister for
agriculture, Warren Truss, of twice fobbing off its concerns that relaxed
quarantine standards could lead to an outbreak of the disease, and even
issuing a written guarantee that "it could not happen".
Mr Truss rejected the criticism and accused the board of being
hypocritical about quarantine, revealing that it had asked him in 2001 to
overturn a ban on importing horses from Britain during an outbreak of foot
and mouth disease,”
The example used by Mr Truss is further evidence that Mr Truss or his
department did not understand the science. Horses are not affected by
Foot and Mouth Disease and the 2001 ban was taken at a political level to
appease concern expressed by people who did not understand that horses did
not have cloven hooves.
Mr Truss was advised of this error by Biosecurity Australia, AQIS, the
Australian Veterinary Association, various DPI’s and the Australian Horse
Industry Council. Undeterred, Mt Truss maintained the ban for over a
year. Numerous horses were unable to move to Australia, including
breeding horses, competition horses etc.
In June 2001 the TB breeders approached Mr Truss and got an exemption to
allow importation of the shuttle stallions. Then the racing authorities
got exemption for racehorses to compete in the 2001 Melbourne Cup. The
general ban on horse imports continued at considerable cost to their
owners.
This episode should have been a warning what would happen if we did get
Equine Influenza. Politicians ignore scientific advice and then bow to
pressure from powerful racing and breeding interests at the expense of the
ordinary horse owner.
Rod Hoare
AHIC
Federal Government over Australia's quarantine standards and their role in
the outbreak of equine influenza.
See the full article in the Sydney Morning Herald at:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/horseracing/truss-was-blind-to-science-says-board/2007/11/05/1194117959658.html
The article continues: “The board accused the former minister for
agriculture, Warren Truss, of twice fobbing off its concerns that relaxed
quarantine standards could lead to an outbreak of the disease, and even
issuing a written guarantee that "it could not happen".
Mr Truss rejected the criticism and accused the board of being
hypocritical about quarantine, revealing that it had asked him in 2001 to
overturn a ban on importing horses from Britain during an outbreak of foot
and mouth disease,”
The example used by Mr Truss is further evidence that Mr Truss or his
department did not understand the science. Horses are not affected by
Foot and Mouth Disease and the 2001 ban was taken at a political level to
appease concern expressed by people who did not understand that horses did
not have cloven hooves.
Mr Truss was advised of this error by Biosecurity Australia, AQIS, the
Australian Veterinary Association, various DPI’s and the Australian Horse
Industry Council. Undeterred, Mt Truss maintained the ban for over a
year. Numerous horses were unable to move to Australia, including
breeding horses, competition horses etc.
In June 2001 the TB breeders approached Mr Truss and got an exemption to
allow importation of the shuttle stallions. Then the racing authorities
got exemption for racehorses to compete in the 2001 Melbourne Cup. The
general ban on horse imports continued at considerable cost to their
owners.
This episode should have been a warning what would happen if we did get
Equine Influenza. Politicians ignore scientific advice and then bow to
pressure from powerful racing and breeding interests at the expense of the
ordinary horse owner.
Rod Hoare
AHIC
posted by Horse Deals Reader at
10:22 am
1 Comments:
I personally think Warren truss was RIGHT to uphold the ban during the UK Foot and Mouth outbreak: FMD is at least as infective as EI and definitely spreads long distances on the wind. Like EI it is easily carried on clothes, footwear, leather etc. So even though horses cannot Get Foot and Mouth they and their attendents were definitely potential vectors for the virus back in 2001. Believe me, EI is NOTHING compared to what would happen to stock movements, public events, people's livelihoods and so-on if FMD got here. No races, no shows, NOTHING - Sydney and Melbourne and Perth shows all gone completely, not just the horse bit. Definitely no melbourne Cup. And with FMD we would be slaughtering 1,000s of animals.
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