Originally from: Mary Critchley
                        
March 2 – 6 ~ Jim Dring says "I could have prevented FMD" – but could he?
 A document, apparently submitted to the Anderson Inquiry into the foot and mouth crisis, is the subject of two articles today, one in the Western Morning News and the other in Farmers Weekly. The statement, by the MAFF vet Jim Dring, is headed "To: The Anderson Inquiry" – but no mention of it was made in the inquiry's report.
 It will be remembered by many readers of warmwell that Bobby Waugh claimed that on confirmation of FMD being present on Friday 23rd February, Jim Dring went into one shed and stated that certain pigs had been infected for four weeks. When told that this would have taken the date of infection to the time that he carried out his annual inspection on 24th January, Bobby Waugh claimed that Jim Dring changed his estimation to three and two weeks.
 The news articles quote Jim Dring apparently apologising for his own negligence in renewing Waugh's swill feeding licence. In fact, he is indirectly asserting that Waugh's farm was the index case for the outbreak and that Bobby Waugh was to blame for the outbreak. However unpleasant conditions on Burnside Farm farm were, it was never suggested, even at the trial, that Bobby Waugh somehow introduced FMD into the UK. No evidence has come to light to prove the origin of the 2001 outbreak – even though Waugh is widely accepted as the culprit.
 During Bobby Waugh's trial, Mr Jeremy Stuart-Smith QC asked Mr Dring to explain how he had continued to licence the premises, and to explain how he had continued to file his six-monthly reports, over a number of many years, by 'ticking' the box marked, 'Satisfactory' ...( http://www.warmwell.com/may11waugh.html) Mr Dring himself authorised the feeding of unprocessed swill to Bobby Waugh's pigs.