Who’s On First?
It is interesting to note that recent media coverage on the Shropshire scrapie issue has just grazed the surface, and not even attempted to find out up-to-date facts on this topic by interviewing relevant individuals. The flock owner for instance…moi.
The alleged positive test result is highlighted out of context, without reporting other hugely pertinent facts. Seems the media is only reiterating the same Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) statements from their own press releases.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) Brian Evans has admitted the prevalence of scrapie in Canada is “fairly low.” Evans just issued a press release saying “Scrapie can only be confirmed through tests conducted on brain tissue.”
Penny Greenwell is quoted as saying “Scrapie has a long incubation period and there is no known 100-per-cent-effective live test. Infected animals can spread the disease in flocks and herds without showing signs of illness.”
However, what is not said is that most sheep scrapie cases present between 2 and 4 years…and the alleged positive was over 6 years old. Just one in a series of relevant facts surrounding this case.
Both Evans and Greenwell neglect to mention that if ONLY brain tissue is used and various other sites in the entire lymphatic system are not tested, THEY COULD MISS between 5% and 30% of infected animals, thereby rendering their kill-and-test program most unreliable.
Yet CFIA claims the 88% accuracy of the LIVE test is not enough? So they killed 9 of my pregnant sheep to verify they were healthy, found out they were indeed all negative for scrapie, and are out to kill 31 more if they find them.
Some media report that “The 31 animals that disappeared just before they were to be destroyed April 2 were a group sorted from Jones’ flock as having a genetic susceptibility to the disease, said Penny Greenwood, national manager for disease control and animal welfare with the CFIA in Ottawa.” But in fact, the 9 that were seized and killed, AND the alleged positive, were of a genetic cohort that CFIA deemed NOT as susceptible as the ARQ/ARQ’s.
While it is commonly accepted that ”horizontal” transmission of scrapie to another sheep is possible, especially for producers who allow their sheep to birth in groups as many do, the media release does NOT mention the actual facts in this particular case.
Wholearth ewes are penned in individual lambing pens before and after birthing for up to two weeks, and the area cleaned before another ewe is introduced. Therefore, the likelihood of another coming into contact with infected material in the birthing environment is extremely unlikely. CFIA has admitted the same to in information about potential contamination, management and clean up in flocks in general.
Greenwood goes on to say CFIA is unable to offer the DNA and tissues “with no chain of custody to certify the samples”, but in FACT they have been unwilling to even discuss the issue, and it is pure assumption there would be no “chain of custody.” OF COURSE there would be complete care and control to satisfy both parties…that statement is merely conjecture by Greenwood, not truth.
Inadvertently breeding for atypical disease?
What exactly are we letting happen here, at the hands of a tunnel visioned government?
There is a move to wipe out ARQ/ARQ sheep as they have been considered to be a “susceptible” genotype for scrapie. This does not mean necessarily that an ARQ/ARQ sheep WILL get scrapie, but some research suggests it is at higher risk of contracting the disease if scrapie already exists in a sheep’s environment.
While classical scrapie is not considered a human health risk, it is a threat to the lamb industry because commercial lamb producers see less revenue due to affected sheep creating reduced production.
The latest scientific findings have confirmed that genotype genocide and the elimination of our biological diversity is a very dangerous thing, in nature and agriculture.
In fact, flocks such those that have been influenced by Agriculture Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to alter their genetic pool by using ARR rams for a “scrapie-resistant flock” is misguided.
The science now indicates producers doing so are in fact, possibly breeding FOR scrapie.From the experts in prion research: “Sheep believed to be resistant to scrapie are succumbing to atypical infections and a newly identified strain of the disease. Eradication programmes based on selective breeding should be reappraised.”
What to believe?
My main goal in this ongoing Shropshire saga has been for Minister of Agriculture Gerry Ritz to implement a Heritage Breed Exemption to the current Scrapie Protocol, which would protect and conserve the genetic diversity of all rare heritage breeds in Canada, not just the Shropshires.
Still no evidence that the original positive found on an Alberta farm was a sheep that originated on my farm. CFIA’s DNA lab report (which I have not seen despite requests) has only proven that two offspring born on the Alberta farm were out of a sheep there. But for the sake of (no) argument, let’s say it was indeed the same sheep that originated on my farm. Experts agree that that sheep 24S could have contracted the disease after it left my farm, which has a history of no scrapie nor symptoms for the entire 12 years since my flocks existence.
I believe in controlling scrapie, however I also believe in preserving rare heritage genetics. I’ve been open to co-operating with Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to discover if scrapie does indeed lie somewhere within my flock, but with a considered approach in view of it’s rare breed status. I even proposed sacrificing more than half my beloved flock towards finding out http://shropshiresheep.org/2012/04/03/lost-sheep/ . They refused. Perhaps had CFIA and I worked together, the sheep might not have been taken by Farmers’ Peace Corps {http://shropshiresheep.org/2012/04/04/on-the-lam-cbcs-as-it-happens/} .
CFIA now claims that a different sheep just tested positive on my farm. Numerous facts suggest that test result could be a ‘mistake’, for the following reasons:
1) There were no scrapie symptoms in the alleged positive the day before it died, when the CFIA veterinarian heading the case confirmed it was likely ill due to pregnancy toxemia.
2) The alleged positive was over 6 years old. Scrapie commonly affects sheep between 2 and 3 years old, rarely after 5 years old. {http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3864753?uid=3739448&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3737720&uid=4&sid=47698971872807}
3) Scrapie is generally transmitted from an infected scrapie positive mother to it’s offspring via birthing fluids. Yet the 13-year old pregnant mother of the alleged positive was healthy (until CFIA killed her). She tested negative for scrapie. {http://shropshiresheep.org/2012/04/28/cfia-raids-farm-to-seize-and-kill-9-shropshire-sheep/ }
4) The alleged positive was not one of CFIA’s specified high risk genetic cohorts, it was a VRQ/ARQ.
5) CFIA and Jones are engaged in judicial review currently before the courts. CFIA needed a positive to counter that review, and did not have one prior to their alleged positive.
6) A false government document certified that some of Jones’ sheep were “contaminated by scrapie”, 20 days BEFORE the samples were even shipped to the testing lab.{http://shropshiresheep.org/2012/05/01/shepherd-obtains-false-government-document/}
7) CFIA refuses blind third-party testing. Why not have the DNA and obex brain tissue speak for themselves?
Greenwood is quoted stating “CFIA has “no doubt” that the animal in question was scrapie-positive.” Montana Jones is not convinced. She has “no doubt” that this case necessitates third party investigation, after experiencing a history of numerous CFIA errors.”
This issue is about shining a bright light on all questionable, intransigent government tactics and draconian protocol, especially those that are devastating Canada’s dwindling heritage breeds.
Will the real human nature please stand up
It’s an odd twist that certain people seem to have launched an all out attack in various public online forums, with some others commenting that their interest in the case might be viewed a personal vendetta, rather than focussing on the facts of the issue. It’s still not clear to me why those individuals have changed sides, going from being so much against CFIA’s tactics to clearly raging and ranting on with misinformed false accusations. It is most unusual. So far I have chosen not to share taped conversations that are contrary to what is purported online.
Their targeted, out-of-context vehement hair-splitting digressions to every nuanced detail has some pondering the phrase, “Methinks ye doth protest too much.”
But that’s a red herring rabbit hole for another day…well, actually..there aren’t enough days left in this lifetime to go there. There is neither the time nor interest to address their speculative deviations to fiction, and I will instead focus on sharing all the relevant facts of the Shropshire/CFIA issue publicly and in the courts.
I didn’t bring this issue to light with an aim to hide pertinent facts, but to reveal them. I am not the first farmer this has happened to…MOST never say a word….it’s too much of a stigma to even utter the word scrapie, even for those producers whose large flocks have been destroyed and all tested negative.
I’m still holding fast to believing, perhaps naively, that the truth will out, that by staying the course, all will be revealed in the fullness of time.
And if it does not?
…well, I will have learned some pivotal lessons about human nature…some sad, some disheartening, but most are incredibly inspiring.
The one powerful lesson realized throughout is that so many of us want the same thing, whether it’s about sheep, lies, government…no matter. Those are details.
Friends and supporters refresh and encourage me every day with a reminder for all like-minded souls. Here’s to living freely and simply and honestly, doing no harm and to helping where we can.
Posted on May 4, 2012
by Montana
in CFIA
CFIA’s Brian Evans has admitted the prevalence of scrapie in Canada is “fairly low.” He just issued a press release saying “Scrapie can only be confirmed through tests conducted on brain tissue.”
He neglects to mention that if they use ONLY brain tissue and don’t test a whole slew of places in the lymphatic system, THEY WILL MISS between 5% and 30% of infected animals, thereby rendering their kill-and-test program most unreliable!
Yet CFIA claims the 88% accuracy of the LIVE test is not enough? So they killed my beloved 9 pregnant sheep to verify they were healthy, found out they were indeed all negative for scrapie, and are out to kill 31 more if they find them.
Those 9 were of a genetic cohort that CFIA deemed NOT as susceptible as the ARQ/ARQ’s.
What exactly are we letting happen?
There is a move to wipe out ARQ/ARQ sheep as they have been considered to be a “susceptible” genotype for possible scrapie. This does not mean necessarily that an ARQ/ARQ sheep WILL get scrapie, but some research suggested it is at higher risk of contracting the disease if it already exists in a sheep’s environment.
While classical scrapie is not considered a human health risk, it is a threat to the lamb industry because commercial lamb producers see less revenue due to affected sheep creating reduced production.
The latest scientific findings have confirmed that genotype genocide and the elimination of our biological diversity is a very dangerous thing, in nature and agriculture.
In fact, flocks such those that have been influenced by Agriculture Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to alter their genetic pool by using ARR rams for a “scrapie-resistant flock” is misguided. The science now indicates producers doing so are in fact, possibly breeding FOR scrapie.
From the experts in prion research: “Sheep believed to be resistant to scrapie are succumbing to atypical infections and a newly identified strain of the disease. Eradication programmes based on selective breeding should be reappraised.”
and
“the ARR allele was until recently thought to confer full resistance to BSE and scrapie. However, the successful transmission of BSE prions to ARR/ARR sheep and the detection of natural cases of classical scrapie in sheep with the ARR/ARR genotype have shown that this resistance is penetrable. Moreover, the identification of previously unrecognized atypical scrapie strains in sheep with various genotypes, including ARR/ARR, further supports this statement.”
The WORST of it is that while classical scrapie is not presently considered an issue for human health risk…atypical scrapie may well be.
Research has found that primates are susceptible to a new variant popping up increasingly in the ARR genotyped sheep that our government and most national sheep organizations have been grooming to be our national flock.
When might the CFIA realize that safeguarding our ARQ/ARQ sheep may well be the answer to ensure that our nations future health is protected from scrapie related human illness?
We need diversity for health—we need heritage breeds of sheep and all livestock.
Posted on May 1, 2012
by Montana
in CFIA
PRESS RELEASE
May 1st, 2012—Hastings, Ontario/The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) released a statement Friday claiming that a single sheep belonging to a quarantined Ontario farm has tested positive for scrapie. The sheep’s owner suspects the finding was pre-ordained. For over two years shepherd Montana Jones has maintained that the CFIA has not provided evidence that scrapie exists in her rare heritage flock of Shropshire sheep.
Despite live biopsy tests indicating the sheep were free of the disease, the CFIA claimed the 88% accuracy was not sufficient, and refused to retest to increase the accuracy rate, or to apply another form of live testing. They issued an order to kill the sheep and test brain tissue.
The case made national headlines when 31 of the flock disappeared prior to CFIA’s planned April 2nd destruction. A group called the Farmers Peace Corp [sic] left a note saying they took them into protective custody until CFIA could prove that the flock did indeed have scrapie.
Jones says she is not surprised at CFIA’s claim. “I have been expecting them to announce a positive. It is in their interests to shut down the media attention, turn off the spotlight on their draconian protocol, and halt the judicial review that is before the courts. It’s also a tactic to incite the public to help search for the missing sheep.”
Signed and certified
On March 28, 2012 a group of young sheep were sent to the abattoir, prior to the CFIA’s planned April 2nd destruction. According to CFIA scrapie regulations any sheep under 12 months (ie. lambs) are eligible for slaughter and sale as meat. Despite this fact Jones has chosen not to make any of her animals available for human consumption since the quarantine was in place, due to concerns about potential public misconceptions from those who are not fully educated on food safety or the science of scrapie.
Jones believes that the CFIA test finding was already a fait accompli. She was alarmed to discover a signed government document declaring the offal was “contaminated by scrapie”, dated 20 days before any samples were actually shipped to the lab for testing, and 29 days before the scrapie test was even performed. ALL 14 samples tested negative for scrapie on April 25, 2012.
An Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) inspector wrote out a Carcass and Portion Condemnation form claiming and certifying as of March 28 that Montana Jones’ sheep were: “…found on post-mortem examination…to be affected with Contamination with Scrapie …”
Jones said, “I asked for supporting evidence for her claim. As I understand it there are no observable indicators of scrapie in a post-mortem exam of the carcass in an abattoir. I already knew it was a false statement.”
“The OMAFRA inspector said there were no indicators, but that the CFIA told her to write it. I asked for a copy of the report she submitted to her superiors, because the document would need to be corrected to indicate that there was in fact NO PROOF or evidence of scrapie in her post mortem examination. She said she already filed it electronically.”
Jones said that the OMAFRA inspector offered to change her document after the fact. “She removed the word ‘scrapie’ and gave me a second slip dated April 25. “Now the CFIA lab test results for those same eleven animals in question all came back negative, just a few days ago.” says Jones. “Who wouldn’t question this?”
Vet agreed scrapie unlikely
“The ewe they say was positive died of a pregnancy related illness, but it was CFIA’s first opportunity to get a mature head to test.” said Jones. “It was a sheep that was not actually on the CFIA destruction order…a VRQ genotype they say is not susceptible to scrapie.”
Jones said the CFIA vet in charge of the case had examined the ewe the day before it died. “Dr. Douglas MacLeod said she was in very good body condition, with no signs nor symptoms of scrapie, no tremors, no unusual gait, no teeth grinding, no neurological dysfunction, no rubbing, no scratching, no wool loss, no puritic behaviour, no ataxia. He agreed with me that she likely had toxemia, but did not offer treatment.”
“I told him she was going to die, that I thought I caught her toxemia too late…and could he please euthanize her and write up an order for her and thus I would at least get compensation and he would have the head and obex brain tissue to test,” said Jones.
“He said no. He would only do that with an animal that was symptomatic for scrapie and he said she was not, that she looked ‘very comfortable’.”
“The next morning she was dead, and her lambs stillborn. So CFIA now have their scapesheep.” said Jones.
CFIA may deny access to DNA and tissue
Jones’ says she is also concerned that CFIA have refused to provide DNA and obex brain tissue of the sheep they claim tested positive for scrapie. “It’s only fair to have an independent third party lab do a blind test to prove or disprove CFIA’s claim. They seized my personal property and all evidence, and are playing the roles of judge, jury and executioner.”
“Perhaps I’m being naive to trust even that process,” she said. “I now realize any body could tamper with any thing anywhere.”
Posted on April 28, 2012
by Montana
in CFIA
PRESS RELEASE - On Friday, April 27 at approximately 7:15 p.m., four CFIA agents and 2 security guards arrived at Montana Jones’ Hastings Ontario farm with an order for the destruction of 9 Shropshire sheep that remained on the farm after 31 sheep went missing earlier this month. They left two vehicles “guarding” the premises overnight. The CFIA inspectors returned Saturday, April 28 at 8:00 a.m., loaded up the 9 sheep, 8 of which were due to have lambs, and drove them approximately four hours to slaughter in Nepean.
The CFIA raid was in response to their claim that they found scrapie in a sheep that died on Jones’ farm on April 19th. “It was a sheep that was not actually on the CFIA destruction order and had a VRQ genotype CFIA say is not susceptible to scrapie.” she said. “She seemed to have been pining for its missing flockmates since they were stolen earlier this month.”
Jones said the CFIA vet in charge of the case had examined the ewe the day before it died. “Dr. Douglas MacLeod said she was in very good body condition, with no signs nor symptoms of scrapie. He agreed with me that she likely had toxemia, but did not offer treatment.”
“I told him she was going to die, that I thought I caught her toxemia too late…and could he please euthanize her and write up an order for her and thus I would at least get compensation and he would have the head and obex brain tissue to test,” said Jones. “He said she looked ‘very comfortable’.”
“The next morning she was dead.” said Jones. “CFIA has been waiting to say they have a positive…but I still don’t believe they have one yet.”
Posted on April 24, 2012
by Montana
in CFIA
Shepherd seeking lost sheep…and day in court
HASTINGS, ON: The owner of a rare heritage Shropshire sheep flock that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has ordered destroyed has filed a federal court application for judicial review (VIEW APPLICATION) of the order.
Shepherd Montana Jones’ farm has been under quarantine for two years. In March, 2012 the CFIA issued an Order of Destruction to kill the sheep so that it could test their brain tissue for suspected scrapie. Jones had asked the CFIA to consider various alternative proposals to live test and monitor the flock without killing the rare breed, but the CFIA refused. The flock has already tested negative for scrapie in a live biopsy test and has shown no visible symptoms of the disease. Scrapie is not a human health risk.
The 31 sheep were to be destroyed on April 2, 2012. However, the CFIA arrived at Jones’ Wholearth Farmstudio to find the sheep gone and a note left in their place. A group calling itself the Farmers Peace Corp [sic] stated it had “taken the animals into protective custody until an alternative to killing has been found or conclusive independent proof or clear evidence of disease has been proven.” Ontario Provincial Police are still investigating the disappearance.
“I miss my sheep, and my sheep are still missing…but still not safe,” Jones said. “If and when CFIA finds them—they will kill them. After 27 months of uncertainty I want some kind of resolution. They’re out there somewhere about to lamb in an unfamiliar place with an unfamiliar face.”
On her ShropshireSheep.org blog, Jones has suggested that the CFIA make a public appeal offering amnesty to Farmers Peace Corp and a reprieve from death for the flock if the persons responsible for taking them would just return the sheep.
“I’d like my Shropshires back to shepherd them through birthing and raising their lambs. Why doesn’t CFIA ask Farmers Peace Corp to return my sheep safe and sound with a promise of reprieve?”
“CFIA claims the biggest potential risk—if any sheep are indeed positive for scrapie—arises when the sheep give birth. The birthing fluids could theoretically contaminate a new location. So on that point, we want the same thing, to have the lambs born back on my farm.” says Jones. “I’d like them back…but only if they are safe from the CFIA.”
Jones’ lawyer Karen Selick of the Canadian Constitution Foundation says she and her client have cited a multitude of reasons in the application to quash the CFIA Order to destroy the sheep. “There are numerous grounds. Some relate to the abuse of discretionary power, some to the Canadian Bill of Rights, and some to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”
“One we are particularly concerned about is that the CFIA has condemned the sheep based on their genotype. The law authorizes the forced destruction of individual suspected animals. It doesn’t mention genotypes. We asked the CFIA in January to identify their reasons for suspecting each animal they condemned, but they never did. They just applied a pre-fab rule, and that’s not what Parliament authorized them to do,” said Selick.
Selick said, “We’re not even sure they have correctly identified the most susceptible genotype. A U.K. study of 14,000 sheep indicates that the CFIA may not even have applied its own rule accurately.”
Selick says they have also learned that the testing of a dead sheep’s obex (brain tissue) is not conclusive and may not be significantly more accurate than the live-animal rectal biopsy, which has an 88% accuracy.
“An expert I’ve interviewed told me that the CFIA’s policy of eliminating certain sheep genotypes may have the unintended consequence of genetically selecting Canada’s national flock for greater susceptibility to other diseases that might turn out to be worse than classical scrapie. The CFIA’s own vets have recognized in published research that it’s unwise to reduce the genetic diversity in the sheep population, but when I quoted it to them in a letter, they did not respond to this concern.”
The Canadian Constitution Foundation (“Freedom’s Defence Team”) is a registered charity, independent and non-partisan, whose mission is to defend the constitutional freedoms of Canadians through education, communication and litigation.
