The Daily Mail reports how meat and dairy farms are now harbouring ESBLE coli - a superbug. The usual speciesist rant could be shoehorned in here as reporters get the public worked up by human death and neglect to mention that the farmed animals in question are bred only to die at human hands, but the article works as a reminder of what the vegan movement has been saying for a long time now, that the intensive farming of animals is detrimental to human health as well as the suffering of the animals.

Health fears grow over deadly superbug infecting 32 farms

A superbug which kills hundreds of patients a year has been found on 32 farms, it emerged yesterday.

The discovery raises fears that the infection is spreading to the human population through meat and milk.

The bug - ESBL E coli - causes around 30,000 cases of blood poisoning and urinary tract infection each year.

It is known to have killed hundreds of people over the past five years, although some experts put the annual death toll as high as 4,000.

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Bovine transmittors: Cows can carry E.Coli to humans through milk

Experts from the Government’s Veterinary Laboratories Agency are due to reveal details today of the extent of the infection on farms.

The “super E coli” is thought to have developed a high degree of resistance to antibiotics through their use in intensive livestock operations.

Its spread from farm to farm has mirrored the rise in the number of infections and deaths in the human population.

Experts at the Health Protection Agency are investigating a possible link between the bugs found in livestock and the sale of meat and milk.

Dr Georgina Duckworth, who compiled a report for the agency on the emergence of the E coli, concluded: ‘The findings show evidence of people carrying these bacteria in their gut.

“If this is found to be commonplace in the general population this may point towards the food chain being a potential source.”

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Deadly bug: E Coli kills hundreds of humans every year

During slaughter, the bug, which lives in the gut, can be spread through meat, making it a risk to abattoir workers.

Similarly, bugs from cow dung can get into milk during milking. E coli should be killed during pasteurisation but tests show that some forms of TB bacteria can survive heat treatment.

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The news article below is another example of farmers neglecting animals and contradicting the idea of them as benign benefactors of the animals in their care. The harsh reality is that the animals are precisely what they are labelled - livestock - there for the sole purpose of making a farmer money.
The people of the developed world who have lost contact with the connection between living, breathing individuals, and the ingredients of a pasty really should see all aspects of what goes into their dinners.
Take a minute to look round meatismurder, mostly what can be learned is that what goes into a meat dinner is abuse, fear, horror, and pain.

These photographs show the shocking scenes of animal neglect that greeted Department of Agriculture inspectors at a Co Tyrone farm.

Officials were appalled to find decaying carcasses and emaciated livestock on the Caledon farm when they were tipped off in February 2005. Dead cattle and sheep were left decaying where they lay - conditions which prompted the USPCA to call for courts to reflect the public’s revulsion at every case of animal cruelty. Last month, father and son farmers Joseph and David Reid were fined at Dungannon Magistrates Court after being found guilty on nearly 50 breaches of animal welfare and farming laws. The pair face further penalties next year for other breaches found during follow-up inspections of their farm at Tannaghlane Road, Caledon.

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A non-sensationalist undercover investigation of an Australian Intensive Pig Farm.

http://www.mfha.org.uk
Foot and Mouth

All Hunts are advised that no activity with hounds can take place on farmland until further notice.
This is likely to remain the position while farmers are unable to move their stock.
Hunting a trail or drag is prevented by law under the regulations.Meanwhile the best advice we can give on the following issues is:
Fallen Stock - For the time being DEFRA has instructed that Hunts should not collect fallen stock, nor should it be delivered.
This position is likely to change and you may be contacted by your regular Government Veterinary Officer with instructions as to how the service may be resumed.It is the responsibility of DEFRA to inform all licensed premises.
Masters will be informed as soon as we receive instructions from DEFRA.
Hound Exercise - There is technically no reason why hounds may not continue to be exercised on the roads.
However, Hunt Officials will know the local situation, the feelings of their farmers, and the decision should be taken taking all local issues into consideration.
Hound Parades - Again, there is no technical reason why hounds should not be paraded at a Show, but the same local considerations should be taken into account, especially in these first few weeks.
It should be emphasised that Hunts have a very close relationship with the farming community and only operate with their support.
Hunts will do nothing that could put farmers at risk.
Alastair Jackson
Director

Another chance to show the horrendousness of the treatment of animals, and the confused attitudes of the meat-eating public. A German zoo has alledgedly been killing animals and selling the bodies for meat. This has caused outrage. Presumeably because zoo animals are somehow divine and far more important than all other deer stocked for venison.

German Zoo Embroiled in Scandal Over Illegal Meat

It all started when an eagle-eyed employee noticed declining animal stocks at Erfurt Zoo. It ended with a scandal, sackings and a criminal investigation into an illegal meat operation. Some zoos aren’t as lucky as the one in Berlin. Most don’t have superstar polar bear cubs and the potential to exploit cuteness through marketing deals and promotions which would make even David Beckham seem like a media-shy hermit with no business sense. There are no tie-ins, no plush toys flying off the shelves, no hordes of expectant children and insatiable paparazzi stampeding through the turnstiles. For those zoos lacking star-quality, life is bleak. The future is under-funded and the staff and animals suffer accordingly. However, some animals — like those at Erfurt Zoo — suffer more than others.

For these poor creatures, their suffering was not caused by a reduction of enclosure space due to a budget cut or an enforced diet due to spiraling feed costs. No, it came courtesy of those unscrupulous members of staff who, instead of looking after the beasts, were killing them and shipping their carcasses out the back door as meat. While other establishments were relying on merchandise to boost income, the evil workers at Erfurt were lining their own pockets with a grisly sideline in exotic animal flesh. Bambi steaks could be tip of meat iceberg More buck for your buck: Deer meat proved very popular.

Apparently, the staff responsible had been turning petting zoo deer into venison as part of a clandestine business for a number of years. Now it is feared that Bambi steaks will turn out to be just one specialty on the macabre menu. “We are worried this is only the tip of the iceberg,” said Wolfgang Apel, president of the German Animal Protection League, who also called for a thorough review of controls at the zoo and at all other institutions with animals in the eastern state of Thuringia. The secret meat trade was revealed after an anonymous zoo employee noticed that the number of animals was declining.

…read more of story at dw-world.de

We all know farmers from the television don’t we?…perhaps a tad curmudgeonly but generally salt of the earth heroes dashing about wrapping towels around little baby lambs in a benign glow of altruism. Which is why it is odd that stories about cruelty to farm animals keep rearing their head throughout the history of meatismurder.info. Here is another one.

A farmer has pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges after he admitted to chopping bull horns off with hedge loppers. Mark Arthur Atchison was fined $2700 in Morrinsville District Court yesterday for cutting off horns from six bulls that were in his care. The Hereford bulls were found with bloody horn stumps by a New Zealand Food Safety Authority veterinarian during a routine pre-slaughter inspection. Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry investigations manager Greg Reid said the removal of horns in this manner would have caused the animals a great deal of pain, distress and suffering, including the days following removal. A search of Aitchison’s property by the vet revealed 14 cut off horn tips, after which he made a full admission, saying he had always used the hedge loppers to remove horn tips. “This sentence sends out a strong message that painful and barbaric procedures such as this are unacceptable,” Mr Reid said.