Phoenix today is a healthy cow raising her fourth calf on a farm near Axminster in Great Britain.
Phoenix in 2001 was an orphaned calf seemingly doomed to death after being found suckling its dead mother. The herd had been obliterated in attempts to contain an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.
But Phoenix, so named for being a survivor of the burning pyres of animals that characterized that horrific event, was saved by the powers of public outcry. Enraged at the idea of killing healthy animals in the containment effort, the British public demanded that Phoenix be spared. The case is credited with development of new rules at the time that allowed veterinarians some discretion when identifying animals for slaughter.
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The calf, owned by Philip Board, later toured country shows and raised money for a cancer charity, according to BBC news. Then she settled down to raise calves, as most good cows do.
Phoenix’s story was reprised recently by virtue of Great Britain’s latest outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. At time of writing, the stringent animal health regulations there, many of them put into place as a direct result of BSE and the previous FMD outbreak, appear to be having a positive effect. No new cases have been discovered in the past week and some animal movement restrictions have been lifted.
Even so, this outbreak, confirmed on only two farms, resulted in the destruction of 570 animals and prompted international bans estimated to have cost Britain about $3.5 million per day.
If this recent outbreak is indeed contained, the international cattle industry will breathe a collective sigh of relief. In the long run, such events benefit no one.
On a happier note, it’s my duty to tell you of awards recently won by Western Producer writers and photographers in the 2007 American Agricultural Editors Association competition.
Though our readers are the most valued and important judges of our work, it’s nice to see how we’re rated by peers in the international agricultural press.
Ed White won second in editorial opinion and second in the issues category and Sean Pratt won second in the human interest category. The entire Western Producer writing team was recognized with a third place win in team reporting for its special Prairie Potluck edition, which you might recall seeing last Christmas.
Photographer Michael Raine won second and third in livestock photo and pictorial, respectively and Mary MacArthur won a third-place award in feature photography.
Yours truly won first in the opinion category for an editorial about animal disease.
