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South Korean religious activists gathered yesterday to voice their criticism at the government for burying pigs and other animals alive in the country's worst outbreak of Foot and mouth Disease (FMD), press agency Xinhua reports.
Approximately 35 religious groups from Protestant, Catholic, Buddhist, Cheondo Religion and Won-Buddhist organisations held a press conference in central Seoul, calling for improvement in the way the government treats animals under the pretext of quarantine efforts against FMD. In a joint message they said: "Burying animals alive is an inhumane act, and the burial alone would not stop the spread of FMD unless environments for livestock farming see some improvements." They also showed a video clip that pictured about 1,900 pigs being buried alive at a site in Gyeonggi Province near the country's capital. Some participants cried while watching the video.
The animals – mostly pigs – have been put to death in an attempt to halt the FMD outbreak, which started in November 2010. The outbreak, the fifth in South Korea since 2000, has led to the slaughter of more than 3.39 million animals, with losses estimated to be over 2 trillion won (US$1.8 billion).
According to domestic quarantine rules, animals must be killed before being buried in a 4-5 m pit lined with two layers of plastic sheeting. However, the animals – mainly pigs – were frequently buried alive under the pressure of events. Farm animals were buried at more than 4,000 sites across the country, often in easily accessible spots, for instance beside rivers. The outbreak of FMD is cautiously believed to show some signs of mitigating as no confirmed cases have been reported in more than 20 days, but the country now grapples with another problem closely related to public health.
As temperatures rise in the spring, the corpses will start to decay. Rainfall leaching through the holes could foul ground water supplies. Environment minister Lee Maan-ee warned that 'an unprecedented environmental disaster' could come due to the burial of the carcasses. In order to prevent the crisis, the Ministry of Environment said it would check all burial sites for safety by the end of April and shore up defective ones.
The religious groups, meanwhile, said they will hold a memorial service for the dead animals next week in Seoul.
http://www.vetsweb.com/news/fmd-outbreak-in-korea-protests-against-live-burying-of-pigs-2001.html
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Sign a petition here:
Please Sign the petition to stop the inhumane culling of the South Korean animals. Last Friday South Korea said it had killed more than 1.3 million pigs and cattle in a frantic effort to control the worst outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease the country has ever witnessed. The massive culling of the animals began six weeks ago when more than100 cases of foot-and-mouth disease were confirmed in pigs and cattle. According to Reuters this has led to, "Hundreds of thousands of authorities working day and night to slaughter the animals." The South Korean government is using a horrific method to end the lives of these animals – especially the pigs. Animal activists worldwide have protested the atrocity, but Korean bureaucrats continue to ignore their pleas. The government is justifying use the cruel method because of a shortage of anesthetics in the country. Reports say that as many as 34,000 pigs have been killed in a single day. Groups such as PETA say that an inexpensive vaccine is available, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the vaccine must be matched to the specific type and subtype of the virus before it can help sick animals. The USDA did not say whether such a vaccine was being developed for the pigs and cattle in Korea. In the meantime South Korea is using a basic vaccine on unaffected animals in parts of the country where the epidemic hasn't hit. Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious virus that can affect cloven hoofed animals like cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, bison and deer. Any country with cases of the disease is prohibited from exporting the meat or by-products from that animal. Typical measures to control the disease include quarantine and the destruction of infected livestock. Recently "marker" vaccines have been used as well. The virus it not usually transmissible to humans. Trauma To The Workers The massive killings are taking a toll on the farmers, soldiers, police, health officials and other workers who have been forced to end the lives of the animals. South Korean officials announced Monday they would offer therapy for these workers. The numbers of animals these workers have killed is staggering. Reports from the province of South Chungcheong said that more than 90,000 pigs and cattle have been slaughtered in the area. The province will offer "stress treatment" to the workers. Workers involved in the culling are suffering from insomnia, fearfulness, hallucinations and loss of appetite. And there doesn't seem to be an end to the killing in the near future. Four new cases of foot-and-mouth disease were confirmed on January 10. Since November 29, South Korea has lost about seven percent of its cattle and pigs. And for the past two weeks the country has been monitoring chickens because of an outbreak of the avian flu virus. Call To Action
Stop South Korea From Burying Pigs Alive
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