The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced in mid July that it was going to seize and destroy 376 sheep in Vermont because a test had shown that four sheep on one farm were infected with a form of transmissible mad-cow like disease. The sheep in question are newly arrived immigrants to the U.S., coming from The Netherlands and Belgium. This of course has heightened the fear of the entry of the British born mad cow disease. Yet the farmers and local Vermont residents say that the decision by the government to eliminate the sheep in question shows the double standard, applied when public health is at stake and the interests of large corporations are not threatened. Last Friday a federal judge granted a week of reprieve to the sheep who may carry this version of mad-cow disease.

Guests:

• John Stauber, author of “Mad Cow USA–Could the Nightmare Happen Here?”
• Linda Faillace, one of the farmers whose sheep are condemned to die because they may have the mad-cow disease.
• Dr Tom Pringle, a scientist and Director of the Spurling Foundation. He is also the web master of the web site mad-cow.org

Related Links:

• PR Watch
• Mad Cow Disease