Ben Bradshaw statement about FMD vet
UK - In a parliamentary debate on swill feeding, Animal Health Minister Ben Bradshaw said: "In recent days there has been some highly misleading and mischievous press coverage based on selective quoting from a personal statement made in the autumn of 2001 by a local vet, Jim Dring, about his contacts with the Waugh's farm in the run up to the foot and mouth outbreak.
17 March 2004
2 minute read
"I have decided to publish Mr Dring's personal testimony in full, so that people can read it and make up their own minds. A copy has been placed in the library of the House and on the Defra website.
"Far from showing any incompetence on Mr Dring's or the then MAFF's part, I believe it shows a dedicated and conscientious vet dealing with some very difficult customers who went out of their way to conceal dangerous and illegal activity on their farm.
"To suggest that Mr Dring was responsible for the Foot and Mouth outbreak, as some have sought to, is like saying that a police officer who misses a piece of evidence at the scene of a crime is responsible for that crime rather than the criminal himself."
The full text of Jim Dring's statement is available at: www.defra.gov.uk/footandmouth/
Source: Defra - 17th March 2004
