Canine Brucellosis latest
No one seems to be in charge of the alleged 'outbreak' of Canine Brucellosis in an enormous Irish Puppy Farm.
Because Canine Brucellosis isn't passed to farm animals it doesn't fall under the remit of the Department of Agriculture. And according to the Irish Independent the puppy farming family are still refusing to co-operate and allow Gov vets access to the estimated 1,000 dogs in their kennels.
It is assumed that they are continuing to trade through this period.
The breeders are denying the outbreak but local vets are quoted in the article as saying there have been cases.
Here's the Irish Indie article.
Apparently legislation to cover puppy farms in Ireland is still being written, but presumably this will not attempt to outlaw breeding on this scale - it will merely (hopefully) provide some minimum standards.
To stop puppy farming on this scale we need to remove the demand. The public needs to stop buying pups from pet shops and dealers and taking more care as to where their pets were reared.
I suspect this farm in Ireland is the biggest in the world and I also suspect that the UK is the biggest customer.
Why aren't they letting anyone in to see what goes on behind those closed doors?
Because Canine Brucellosis isn't passed to farm animals it doesn't fall under the remit of the Department of Agriculture. And according to the Irish Independent the puppy farming family are still refusing to co-operate and allow Gov vets access to the estimated 1,000 dogs in their kennels.
It is assumed that they are continuing to trade through this period.
The breeders are denying the outbreak but local vets are quoted in the article as saying there have been cases.
Here's the Irish Indie article.
Apparently legislation to cover puppy farms in Ireland is still being written, but presumably this will not attempt to outlaw breeding on this scale - it will merely (hopefully) provide some minimum standards.
To stop puppy farming on this scale we need to remove the demand. The public needs to stop buying pups from pet shops and dealers and taking more care as to where their pets were reared.
I suspect this farm in Ireland is the biggest in the world and I also suspect that the UK is the biggest customer.
Why aren't they letting anyone in to see what goes on behind those closed doors?
Comments
This disease canine brucellosis (four tests taken and two were positive)is being managed by the puppy farmers own Vet. Does he not have a responsibity under his profession as a vet to enlighten a Government department and they act accordingly on what is a rare highly contagious disease and a zoonisis?
This puppy farmer exports puppies selling to dealers and pet shops in the UK.
In view of the fact that breeding bitches can abhort a litter and then later produce another which may not show signs of the disease but be carriers. Without regular testing on the puppy farm this is going undiagnosed
These puppies at a later stage may be used for breeding by the new owner and will pass the disease onto the puppies even though they may show no signs themselves. The same applies to a puppy if it a carrier if it is later used as a stud dog.
A puppy may not be used for breeding but it could need veterinary treatment and the disease could go undetected or be found quite unexpectedly when the vet screens for various other conditions. Never the less it will be a host to the disease. This could be a unexpected threat to the Veterinary staff treating the dog and family who own it because routinely no one will be looking for this condition and may not be aware the dog is a carrier.
This is why it is so important for the puppy farm to be quarantined and puppies from this farm prevented from leaving it and entering the UK, where many have already been sold.
Puppy alert have suggested to Animal Health Department (Defra) that all Environmental Health Departments responsible for licensing pet shops in the UK that have premises under their jurisdiction to blood test all puppies and trace those sold in recent months for this disease that have arrived from Ireland but no one is listening.
The Government here and in Ireland will only listen when it is too late and the disease becomes endemic. Which it may well be already in puppy farms as no one tests for it. Until in one puppy farm in Ireland their own vet was advised by the owner under pressure to carry out tests but they (vet, client confidentiality) will not officially notify the general public of their findings.
They should because although it may not be a notifiable disease it is a zoonosis.
Research has shown in Korea that various types of brucellosis have crossed the species barrier. We have not officially been advised as to the type of brucellosis this puppy farm has, the presumption being it is canine brucellosis but it may not be it could be one of the others affecting cattle that has crossed the species barrier and affecting dogs or vice versa.
Of course then the Mininstry of Agriculture will act because it is a threat to livestock - dogs it does not appear to matter.
This is wrong because it does it is a threat to the dog and human population.
In the USA (Michigan) in 2008 three commercial dog breeding kennels were involved in an outbreak, all breeding dogs were immediatly euthanased, drastic action as maybe but surely this indicates the severity of concern for its spread.
In Ireland they take no action likewise in the UK Government to prevent puppies comming in. When will they take notice again too late as with FMD, too late to do anything other than to mass slaughter healthy animals as a preventative measure?
Nic xx