TB Results with a Side of Animal Welfare

           72 +/- 6 hours later we returned to check the test results.  The first farm had one suspect so the producer’s original plans to sell his animals that day got postponed pending gamma interferon test results.  Once an animal has a reaction to the Caudal Fold Test it is labeled as a “suspect” and the farm is put under quarantine until results of the second test are completed.  A quarantined farm is not allowed to move or receive any animals with the exception of sending animals to slaughter.

            The second farm was free of suspects, but did raise some interesting welfare questions.  I am used to farm properties having a certain amount of “junk” but this one more closely resembled a landfill than an actual farm.  There were three semi-trucks, five or six trailers, and at least 20 cars: none of which were capable of starting, let alone even having a complete set of wheels.  Instead of using straw or hay as bedding, newspaper was continually thrown down in one haggard barn, which meant that soiled, shredded paper was forming its own mountain and spilling out the doors.  There’s a lot more that can be described on this farm, but just watching an episode of “Hoarders” will give anyone a pretty clear picture of the place.

            In addition to having a lot of “stuff” there were a lot of animals: 25 cattle, a donkey, 6 horses, 2 pigs, and 6 dogs.  These animals were clearly well-fed, had shelter, water, but it did make me wonder what a state field vet does when he sees questionable practices or if he’s ever on a farm that is abusing its animals.  Dr. Schwarck made it clear that he does consider animal welfare important both for his job and just personally.  At places like this where practices are a little different, but not necessarily harmful, he does his best to educate producers and keep lines of communication open.  If he saw a clear case of abuse or neglect he would report it to MDA's Compliance Dept.  The frustrating part,in his opinion, is that it’s often up to the prosecution office of the county to pursue criminal actions.  Sometimes prosecutors are for taking action, but sometimes not.  In cases where support of the prosecutor is lacking, field vets can make threats and try to work with producers, but they don't have the full force of the law behind them.  Government always seems to have a lot of gray areas for what seems like a black and white issue to me.