010205 Germany to Slaughter “Mad Cow” Cattle

Berlin - Germany said it will join France and Ireland in killing thousands of older cattle in a drive to solve Europe's mad cow crisis and relieve the pressure on farmers as consumers shun beef for fear of infection.

Germany expects to destroy about 400,000 cattle under a “purchase for destruction” program launched by the European Union last month, government spokeswoman Charima Reinhardt said. The EU foresees buying and incinerating up to 2 million cattle by the end of June, at an estimated cost of $1 billion.

Agriculture Minister Renate Kuenast had hesitated to approve the slaughter after farmers and animal rights groups protested against mass slaughter in the fight against the disease, which was first detected in Germany last November. The tally has since risen to 25 cases.

Many experts suspect people who eat infected beef can develop the human version of the brain-wasting disease, and German consumers have taken fright, pushing beef sales down by half and leaving many farms populated with unwanted animals. Demand for beef has fallen by about a quarter EU-wide.

Kuenast has also pledged a tough line on consumer protection after her predecessor and Germany's health minister stepped down over their botched handling of the crisis.

“She has checked all the alternatives and concluded there is no other way,” her spokeswoman Sigrun Neuwerth said. “This helps create space in the stalls and clears out the most risky animals.”

Under the EU scheme, farmers are being given an opportunity to sell animals that are at least 30 months old - the age-group believed most likely to carry the disease. Ministry officials said they hoped it would be as soon as possible, but no date was given. Few of the animals are expected to be diseased.

Gerd Sonnleiter, head of Germany's largest farmers' group, said he was relieved at the decision and said the program should begin quickly regardless of an ongoing spat about who should pay for the crisis.

“The distress of farmers and their animals can stand no delay,” he said.

All the animals killed will be tested for the disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, but the government has so far resisted calls for any BSE-free meat to be exported or donated to poor countries.

Scientists link BSE with new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human version of the brain-wasting ailment that has killed some 80 Europeans since the mid-1990s, mostly in Britain.

German consumption of beef has dropped by more than 50% since November, the Central Bureau for Markets and Pricing reported Wednesday. Exports have also fallen drastically after 34 other countries banned German meat.

Also Wednesday, some 100 police officers in riot gear guarded the Italian Parliament in Rome as farmers protested a second straight day to demand more government money to offset losses caused by the mad cow scare.

A day earlier, farmers threw eggs and oranges at the doors of the building that is home to the Chamber of Deputies. Some also threw firecrackers inside the building. Italy discovered its first mad cow case in January.

Concern about the disease has spread to the European continent a decade after it surfaced in Britain, where about 180,000 animals were found to be infected.

The disease has since spread to the continent, where about 150 infected cows were found in France last year and two people have died.

Spanish officials said Wednesday they had detected three new cases of the disease, bringing to 12 the number discovered so far. Beef sales in Spain have plunged since the first case was announced last November.

Meanwhile, the European Union said it has enough money to pay the cost of destroying the cattle and testing for mad cow disease, but warned the budget could be busted if the beef market doesn't recover soon.

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