Cops take guns off depressed farmers in Britain

As the government considers the slaughter of 500,000 healthy sheep to stop the spread of the disease which is ravaging rural communities, emotions are running high among farmers whose livelihood is in danger, the newspaper said.

Nineteen new sites were confirmed as having foot-and-mouth disease on Monday, taking the British total to 183. More cases are expected.

In Devon county, southwest England, five farmers have been persuaded by police to surrender their shotguns, The Times said.

Officers took the action informally rather than using legal powers so that the guns could be kept "out of harm's way'' until the disease passes, the broadsheet reported.

But in one case, police formally removed a shotgun from a distressed Devon farmer who discovered 130 of his cows had foot-and-mouth and threatened to "get his gun,'' the paper said.

Family doctors and the Samaritans, a charity which provides free, anonymous counseling, are also keeping an eye on depressed farmers.

The outbreak, now into its third week, has already cost Britain's farming industry £30mil (RM168.6mil).

Agriculture minister Nick Brown said that up to 500,000 sheep due to start lambing might have to be slaughtered in a bid to stop the disease spreading further.

The animals would otherwise need to be moved for welfare reasons, but transporting them to farms could create an unacceptable risk of infecting other sites, he said.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair met farming and tourism chiefs yesterday as anger and frustration emerge in the key industries over his government's handling of a rapidly worsening outbreak.

Blair seems anxious to prevent it becoming a political embarrassment in the run-up to a general election he is widely expected to call for May 3.

Some farmers, hoteliers and others affected by the outbreak, which has turned the countryside into a vast "no go'' area, have begun taking issue with the government's constant assertions that the situation is under control.

"I'll be having a series of meetings, not just with farmers but with the wider rural community to see what help we can give them.''

The BBC reported that the government had decided to call in army marksmen to help kill infected animals as the numbers for slaughter mounted in their tens of thousands.

In Canberra, Ireland's foreign minister warned yesterday that growing outbreaks of livestock sickness such as foot-and-mouth and mad cow disease could be a threat to free trade.

Brian Cowen said foot-and-mouth disease, which has devastated Britain's livestock industry, highlighted the competing interests of free trade and the need for regulation to ensure consumer confidence.

"We need to see in what way we don't compromise on the need for free trade and at the same time confirm consumer confidence in food generally,'' Cowen said in an address to journalists in Canberra.

Australia is a strong advocate of free trade, and has pushed for trade barriers in the European Union and US to be removed.--Agencies