BSE slaughter sparks protests


Some German farmers have ignored warnings that protests could be illegal

BERLIN, Germany -- German farmers have taken to the streets to protest over the slaughter of herds of cattle linked to mad cow disease.

Brushing off warnings from Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder against disruptive action, about 500 farmers marched through the centre of the Bavarian village of Nabburg on Saturday, jamming the town of 20,000 for two hours.

Meanwhile, two weeks after all European Union countries stepped up testing of slaughtered cattle for mad cow disease, EU Health Commissioner David Byrne has asked for a status report on their findings, a spokesman said.

Letters went out to officials in the 15 member countries over the past week and answers are expected this coming week, spokesman Gilles Gantelet said.

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German officials in particular were asked for information about a suspected case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), reportedly discovered in a cow less than 30 months old, which is the starting age for mandatory testing.

EU countries began this month requiring all cattle over 30 months to be proven BSE-free before the beef can be sold.

The testing requirements have added to the political furore in Germany over the discovery of at least 12 cases of BSE.

The German government had always insisted its 15 million cattle were immune to the illness thought to cause the brain-wasting variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in humans.

The food and restaurant union (NGG) said at least 10,000 people would lose their jobs in Germany because of waning beef demand.

The government said on Friday that it planned during the next six month to buy 400,000 cows from German farmers, which would be slaughtered and burned.

'Cows and bulls running wild'

"The government should brace for an escalation of pressure if they don't take our problems seriously," local farm leader Franz Kustner, said.


The government plans to slaughter 400,000 cows

Schroeder, who had to replace two ministers who resigned over the mad cow debacle this week, warned farmers they would be making a serious mistake if they followed through on threats to blockade motorways and streets.

Wilhelm Niemeyer, Vice President of the Farmers Federation, said motorways and state highways would soon be blocked by "cows and bulls running wild" unless the government acted quickly.

"That would be against the law," Schroeder told ARD television late on Friday. "I will not tolerate that at all."

With posters such as "Schroeder destroys farmers," the demonstration was only the latest daily farmer rally.

Schroeder has so far taken a hard line, insisting that consumer protection is more important than farm interests.

Pollsters and analysts point out there are more votes to be won in next year's election from consumers than farmers.

"A lot of farmers are facing financial ruin because the demand for beef has completely collapsed," Kustner said at the rally in Nabburg, 130 km (80 miles) north of Munich.

"We may not be able to contain the anger against the government for much longer."