False TB Results Show Change is Needed

The Government should change the testing regime and stop the aerial use of 1080 if it is to get serious about reducing Bovine Tuberculosis (Bovine TB) in cattle says New Zealand First.

“Our farmers are keen, and rightly so, on getting rid of Bovine TB in their herds but can’t trust the regime when ¾ of reactor tests have proven to be false positives,” says Primary Industries Spokesperson Richard Prosser.

“The fact that almost 75% of cattle which tested positive didn’t actually have the disease throws further doubt on one of the justifications given for the continued aerial use of 1080.

“Cattle tested in Southland, the Waikato, and the West Coast from 2003 to 2014 showed that of 4,408 cattle returning positive reactor tests for TB, only 1,122 were found to actually have the disease at post-mortem.

“It is absolutely ludicrous that New Zealand continues to use a test which is so manifestly unreliable.

“We have cattle being slaughtered unnecessarily, we have the unjustified financial hardship imposed on farmers because of that, and we have tonnes of highly toxic 1080 being dumped on the forest and bush in an attempt to wipe out a disease which not only isn’t present in 99.96% of possums, but it turns out isn’t present in three-quarters of cattle testing positive for it either.

“Year after year, new and different excuse after new and different excuse, Government agencies continue to pour 1080 poison over what is supposedly clean, green New Zealand.

“All necessary pest control can be achieved through ground operations, using traps and bait stations that don’t cause by-kill of native birds and insects, or disrupt the food chain. If this is coupled with better testing of cattle and a corresponding increase in movement control, we will have Bovine TB licked.

“This manifestly unjustifiable poisoning of our ecosystem is plain insanity. It has to stop,” says Mr Prosser

ENDS

© Scoop Media