2001 UK foot-and-mouth outbreak - 25 years on: "For some, the battle was too much"

Tenant Farmers Association chief executive George Dunn reflects on the outbreak 25 years ago, the heartbreaking conversations he had with farmers, the devastating open-air pyres of livestock being culled to stop the disease from spreading, and the determination of farmers to never let things become so bad again

clock • 3 min read
TFA chief executive George Dunn said: "I remember reading the note left behind by one young livestock farmer who simply said she could not live with what her livestock had had to go through. For those who had to watch their precious livestock being culled and burned on their farms, either because their animals had contracted disease or had become dangerous contacts with another diseased premises, the pain was deep and acute."
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TFA chief executive George Dunn said: "I remember reading the note left behind by one young livestock farmer who simply said she could not live with what her livestock had had to go through. For those who had to watch their precious livestock being culled and burned on their farms, either because their animals had contracted disease or had become dangerous contacts with another diseased premises, the pain was deep and acute."

February 21 2001 is etched firmly in my consciousness as a dreadful day and the start of a dreadful 11 months. Reg Haydon, the TFA's national chair at the time, and I had just stepped out of English...

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