MATT JOYCE Associated Press writer | Posted: Saturday, June 28, 2008 12:00 am
CHEYENNE - Wyoming livestock and animal health officials said Friday that most cattlemen have expressed support for the western Wyoming rancher whose cows tested positive for brucellosis.
State Veterinarian Walter Cook said the Daniel-area rancher with the infected cattle is having a hard time deciding whether to slaughter all his cattle.
If the rancher doesn't slaughter the herd, federal rules call for Wyoming to lose its brucellosis-free status. That would result in strict testing requirements for Wyoming cattle before they're exported to other states.
"It's going to be his choice," Cook said at a Helena, Mont., meeting of livestock officials from Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. "We can't force him to do it."
The rancher, whose name has not been released publicly, will have 60 days starting next week to make a decision about "depopulating" his herd. Brucellosis has only been found in a small percentage of the herd.
But Cook said many cattlemen have argued that it would be pointless for the rancher to make up his mind about slaughtering the herd yet. The state's epidemiological investigation into surrounding herds is just beginning.
If a second herd is found to contain brucellosis, that would also cause Wyoming to lose its brucellosis-free status, according to federal rules.
Cook said he expects that to happen. "I truly think that Wyoming will lose its status again. It's only a matter of time."
Gary Zakotnik, a brand supervisor for the Wyoming Livestock Board in the western part of the state, said all the ranchers he has spoken with have expressed support for whatever decision the rancher makes.
Most ranchers feel that slaughtering the herd won't solve the brucellosis problem, because cattle will still be susceptible to becoming infected from wildlife carrying the disease, Zakotnik said.
"You're just taking a short-term fix for a long-term problem," Zakotnik said. "If you just depopulate, you force one guy out of business and you haven't addressed the problem as long as you got that (disease) in the wildlife."
Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, said the decision whether to depopulate should be up to the individual rancher.
Magagna agreed that slaughtering the entire herd doesn't make much sense when brucellosis remains active among the Yellowstone area's wildlife population.
Magagna said the state and federal livestock officials, including the Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, ought to start to discussing whether depopulation should be required for infected herds in the greater Yellowstone area.