Government Sponsored Cruelty

I was quite upset by televised coverage of an Alpaka being taken away for execution. It was alleged to be infected with bovine TB but look to ne in very good health. Its owner had objected strongly. I gather the official policy of killing animals infected with TB has been questioned but I'm not sufficiently familiar with the arguments to debate that. What I do question was the way in which the operation was varried out. The animal, clearly frightened and distressed was dragged away by a rope fastened round its face. That must have been very painful. Tha animal seemed to me to be a pet. When pets have to be put down we are usually concerned that the procesdure should be quick and painless and the pet should not be distressed but comforted by its owner. In this case the animal was dragged into a van and driven away to be killed elsewhere. The owner was not able to witness the event. The registration number of the van was blacked out. That alone should have been sufficient grounds for the police present to have charged the driver with a traffic offence.

My interpretation of the proceedings was that DEFRA staff wanted to punish the owner for objecting to the killing and arranged that she see the animal suffer as punishment for inconveniencing them.

DEFRA has a bad record. At one time it almost created a dustbowl in East Anglia by paying farners to remove hedges. DEFRA needs a tough minister with a mandate to remove senior staff and sort things out.