Sheep measles worry

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 404, 17 September 1991, Page 4

Sheep measles worry

The sheep measles threat to industry is being continually brought up in our newspapers, magazines etc. and yet it is the same old story, the ones it affects most still fail to comply with the dosing regulations and recommendations of the Hydatids Council and its officers. Certainly it is not only the farmers who are

flouting these regulations by feeding their dogs unfrozen meat, but owners of town dogs as well. Surely it is about time that a law be passed that all retailers who sell dog meat should have to freeze it prior to selling. However, I feel that the blame should be laid fairly and squarely at the door of the farmers (or should I say the majority of the farmers, as there are some farmers out there who really make a genuine effort to get it right). In some cases farmers can't be bothered freezing the meat first and just throw some to the dogs that are around at the time. They think that they will get away with it just this time as no one will know. Also if some of the stock is sold and shifted to another district, the new owner could end up getting infected stock and will eventually suffer financially through no fault of his own. Once the stock are sent off to the freezing works the farmer then has to wait for the killing sheets to arrive and when they show that a percentage of the stock was infected with sheep measles and was rejected or down-graded he wonders why and will most certainly be affected financially. My late husband was a hydatids officer for 18 years and I assisted him with his paperwork and I recall that when the copies of the rejected and infected stock sheets came direct to him from the freezing works it was incredible what percentages of infected stock there was and as well to which farmers they belonged. I remember that on one sheet from 300 stock sent away 90%

were infected. Owners of infected stock were not only small farmers but some of the more well-to-do farmers which proved that in most cases the farmers in general were being really slack as far as feeding their dogs went. One infected dog will put out an average 3 sedgments per day which is 250,000 eggs. These eggs spread on the feet of stock, birds or blow in the wind, and you can clearly see why just one feed of infected unfrozen meat can do so much damage to the stock on one farm. The cost to the meat industry last year amounted to $76 million. This is straight cold hard cash that the farmer and New Zealand is missing out on. It is quite easy for a farmer to lay the blame on neighbour's dogs, town dogs and dogs roaming through the property but he must remember that just one feed of unfrozen meat can cost them their farm and future. The Hydatids Council over the years has virtually eradicated true hydatids with the dosing system The hydatids officers can only do so much with the dosing system but at the end of the day it still comes back to the farmers to carry out their end of the business. After all they are the ones who are going to suffer financially. This breakdown in the system not only affects the farmers but the whole of the New Zealand economy and if this increase is allowed to continue- then it will be an absolute disastcr for everyone concemed.

Faith

Wise

Raetihi