International Travel Restrictions?

[vickie]

With over 77% responding there should be tighter international travel restrictions to prevent foot and mouth disease from coming to Canada, why do you feel that 19% of respondents feel there should NOT be tighter international travel restrictions? Thanks to the 129 members who participated to last weeks Agri-ville.com Question of the Week.

[ianben]

Hello from England
I did not vote in your poll, but if I had I would not have voted for restrictions on international travel.
1 Our FMD has most probably come from illeagally imported meat.
2 If FMD could easily be transfered by people travelling between infected and non-infected countries. I think it would have been imposible for us to have been free for over 30yrs, you 50yrs and the US even longer.
3If restrictions are made too strict people will try to avoid then by other uncontroled ways.
I am sure there will be lessons to learn from our misfortune but I think international travel is way down the list.
For my part I intend to make sure my animals cannot come into contact with meat and especially bones from my food
because we can never be certain of the origin of what we buy. There will always be unscruplous people no matter what restrictions or laws are in place.

So what do you do with the scraps from a take-away???

Could your dog leave a bone where your cattle might lick it??

This could be the way FMD enters Canada if the infected meat never comes into contact with a suseptable animal you cannot get your first case of FMD.

I know the fear FMD brings but I would rather let my son visit England today, provided sensible cleaning disinfecting was done on his return, than give my dog bones.

Regards Ian