010381 Second Vermont Sheep Herd Seized

East Warren, VT - Federal agents trying to prevent mad cow disease from gaining a foothold in the United States seized a second flock of Vermont sheep as protesters mockingly gave the Nazi salute.

“They were stolen from our farm today,” owner Larry Faillace said.

The 126 sheep were loaded into a truck bound for Iowa, where they will be destroyed and their brains tested for mad cow disease.

The truck was briefly blocked by protesters before it left.

Larry and Linda Faillace had fought to keep their flock, urging officials to first complete tests on 234 sheep confiscated Wednesday from a farm in Greensboro, 40 miles away. Their request was denied.

“This is very difficult for them,” USDA spokesman Ed Curlett said. “This is very difficult for us as well. However, it is our duty, it is our mission to protect American agriculture.”

The East Friesian milking sheep will be tested for one of a family of neurological diseases that include bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease. The tests are expected to take two to three years, because they involve taking scrapings from the animals' brains, inserting the material into mice, and then waiting to see whether the mice get sick.

The government said some of the sheep at the two Vermont farms may have been exposed to mad cow disease through contaminated feed before they were imported from Europe in 1996. They have been quarantined since 1998.

The seizure of the flock earlier this week marked the first time the U.S. government has confiscated livestock and marked it for destruction because of mad cow fears.

About two dozen protesters watched on Friday as the Faillaces' animals were taken at dawn by USDA agents accompanied by police.

“This is a government agency completely out of control. We have no check on this agency,” protester John Barkhausen said. “It doesn't follow its own rules or regulations.”

Three Faillace children - Jackie, Francis and Heather - each held young lambs marked with red dye.

“This is not justice,” said Francis Faillace. “Where are our rights?”

Nearly 100 people in Europe have died of the human form of mad cow disease since 1995, but no cases have been confirmed in the United States.

The Faillaces and Houghton Freeman, the Greensboro sheep owner, will be paid fair market value for the sheep, a price officials have not yet determined.

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