Originally from: coleen
                        
This is my written article which I am sending out to all papers and mags etc.
Coleen

If this Government has it's the way the 'New Animal Health Act' will soon become law. It will give DEFRA and Veterinary Inspectors the right to enter our premises and our homes and remove any animal they suspect of having either foot and mouth or scrapie, or in their view likely to spread either of them. If you think that this Act is only appertaining to farm animals – then you would be wrong. The New Act will give them the power to encompass all animals. An example might be – that if your dogs ran through a field and some days later the animals in that field contacted foot and mouth, they would then have the legal right to slaughter your dogs as having come into contact with infected animals. Your dogs could be considered as 'dangerous contacts' and likely to spread the virus even more.

With this Act we will no longer have the right or the law on our side to keep them off our premises and protect our animals. This is also just the thin end of the wedge. The Act will also cover other animal diseases, although permission from the House will have to be given for each specific case before they will be able to step in and either remove round up and kill animals. That is at least my understanding of how the Act is worded at the moment.

Slowly but surely our rights as animal owners are being removed. To sit back and ignore this might make it too late. As animal owners and lovers we need to make our views felt before this Act becomes law. If you think this could never happen to you – then think back to some nine months ago. Did the farmers and countless pet owners ever imagine that their animals would be taken from them and slaughtered, many of them healthy and of no risk to anyone or anything. What this Government did then was illegal. Some of us fought them, those of us who knew that what they were doing was wrong that is! Many more believed that the Government was acting within the law and just handed their animals over. Imagine how they felt when they realised they had been lied to.

They had stood and watched all their healthy animals being slaughtered believing that they had NO other choice.

At the moment we still do have a choice – to try and stop this Act becoming law.

Please do not sit back and allow this to happen – take some positive steps today.

Write to your MP and tell them you object strongly to this new Act. Write to Tony Blair stating the same.
Ring your local radio, etc.
Write to newspapers, magazines write to anyone who YOU feel will listen. Whatever you decide to do please ACT now – tomorrow could be to late. Coleen L Taylor

Cumbria