Farmer tells of devastation
UK - A farmer spoke of her devastation after her livestock was slaughtered after showing signs of foot-and-mouth disease.
19 September 2007
1 minute read
Sally Hepplethwaite, 69, told BBC News that her pigs, cattle and sheep had been culled at The Klondyke Farm. She kept the animals mostly as pets and said that two of her lambs would sleep in the kitchen at the farm near Egham, Surrey.
"It's so quiet out there now, it's just so sad," she told the BBC. "I have no idea how the disease got here."
She praised officials from Department for Food Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra), saying they stayed with the family whilst the animals were being killed.
The farm is the third to be hit by the latest outbreak and confirmation that Mrs Hepplethwaite's animals were infected came after the disease was spotted on cattle belonging to farmer Robert Lawrence who owns Hardwick Park Farm just 500 yards up the road from The Klondyke.
Source: GuardianUnlimited
