SASKATOON (Staff) – A Federal Court judge has ruled a bull imported from Britain does not need to be destroyed because of the possibility of mad cow disease.
The judge said Gordon Kohl’s r Highland bull was in perfect health and didn’t pose a risk to Canadian cattle by not being slaughtered.
Earlier, a cow in Alberta had tested positive for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy. To protect the Canadian cattle industry, Agriculture Canada said any cattle imported from Britain between 1982 and 1990 must be destroyed.
The judge ruled the bull had been at the Georgeville, Que., farm longer than the disease’s incubation period and wasn’t a hazard to the cattle industry.
Since the judge’s ruling, Kohl said Agriculture Canada has ordered him to continue keeping his bull under quarantine.