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Thanks to Paul for bringing this up (so to speak). The Dutch case is currently being portrayed as quite 'mystifying' in the British media - reports state that with the first Dutch case being confirmed in cows and goats in the eastern towns of Olst in the province of Overjissel, and Oene (3 miles away in Gelderland), the cows in Olst have had no contact with either British or French animals, as no animals have been brought in or out of the farm this year or last. I've also been quite (possibly naively) puzzled in the seeming lack of response from animal rights activists and organisations in relation to the proposed pre-emptive strike on apparently healthy sheep, the apparent acceptance of the underlying economic basis of most/all arguments in justifying the action taken so far, and the somewhat strange scenario that it is the farmers that are prepared to take up arms in defence of their flocks that presumably would have been sold off for lunches and dinners at a later date. I presume others out there are better informed on these issues and would like to hear from them. ____________________________________________ Dr. Duncan Fuller Division of Geography and Environmental Management Lipman Building University of Northumbria at Newcastle Newcastle upon Tyne UK Tel (Direct): (0191) 2273753 Mobile: 07946 401359 Tel (Division Office): (0191) 2273951 Fax: (0191) 2274715 'Beyond the Academy? Critical geographies in Action' University of Northumbria at Newcastle 12-14 September 2001 Conference website - http://gem.unn.ac.uk/conferences/beyond.html > -----Original Message----- > From: Paul Treanor [SMTP:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2001 11:13 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Ethics of foot-and-mouth > > Foot-and-mouth disease has now arrived here in the > Netherlands, almost certainly from Britain. > > Some ethical issues associated with the outbreak have been > in the international media. It seems a failure of this list, > reflecting a general failure of academic approaches, to > raise more fundamental issues. Instead there is general > acquiescence in the taboo, created by government, media and society. > > It is not at all clear that there is any moral obligation to > help control the outbreak. It is not at all clear, that it > is a bad thing for the planet: it may be a bad thing for the > European farmers lobbies, but that is not an moral standard. > However, ethics is what academics define as ethics, and so > far, the academy disdains to question the official line. > > > -- > Paul Treanor > > http://web.inter.nl.net/users/Paul.Treanor/