010360 USDA to Seize Sick Vermont Sheep

Washington - The US Department of Agriculture said it would seize flocks of Vermont sheep suspected of carrying an ailment related to mad cow disease.

The decision contradicts a March 6 pledge by a USDA spokesman that the agency would wait for a federal appeals court to decide the matter. The first hearing in the appeal is set for April 10 in New York.

The department's decision confirms news that one of the owners of the sheep had said the government had notified the owners of some of the sheep that the animals will be seized and slaughtered.

USDA officials deny the department has changed its position, saying the government has gone through the legal process and will seize the sheep before the April 10 hearing.

The USDA and the farmers have fought in court for the last nine months over whether the government has the right to destroy the sheep after finding four of the animals tested positive for scrapie, a brain disease distantly related to bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.

The sheep were imported from Belgium in 1996, the year before the United States closed its borders to all European meat imports to prevent the spread of mad cow disease.

RETURN TO HOME PAGE

E-mail: sflanagan@sprintmail.com