Sheep measles in county

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 5, Issue 10, 4 August 1987, Page 1

Sheep measles in county

The problem of sheep measles infestation around the Waimarino is deeply concerning the Waimarino County Council and creating a problem for the County hydatids officer, Joe Martin. Council were of the opinion that apathy by dog owners in getting their animals registered was the crux of the problem and harsher penalties should be imposed on the offenders. Chairman Con Heinold said he was amazed at the degree of the problem. "There's hardly a property in the County that hasn't had a sheep measles return," he said. He was of the opinion that with the near-comple-tion of the hydatids eradication programme there would be moves afoot for

pressure to be applied to the meat industry to become more ilivolved with the control of sheep measles. "This will mean greater financial penalties being placed on farmers who have sheep affected with sheep measles and meat being down-graded at freezing works," he said. Cr Gavin Jones said the situation was "just not good enough". "It's not ignorance, it's just straight-out confrontation with the well-publi-cised policy of the district," he said. "The time for pussyfooting around has got to come to an end - it's not warnings that we want anymore, it's action." Mr Martin will be warning dog owners that they will face prosecution if their dogs are not registered immediately.