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The Rural Voice, 1982-07, Page 16FARM NEWS Edith Baker and some of her sheep 370 sheep flock destroyed By Wilma Oke It is very quiet these days at Adams -Dale Farm out on Highway 8. No longer does the baa-ing of sheep make the 'century old family farm the noisy, lively place it was fun to visit. The sheep and Iambs are gone --to market. Not that Edith Dale Baker was ready to send them off to market. It was a government decision to dispose of them, and all because of a disease called scrapie. Scrapie is a virus disease, a slow mini -virus called a prion, which may have an incubation period of up to 36 months or longer. It is a degenerative disorder of the brain and central nervous system --the sheep are debilitated and may stop eating. then start up again. A distressing symptom of the disease is itchy skin and the sheep will rub against things taking off their wool until the skin bleeds, their heads twitch and they lose control of their legs. Mrs. Baker discovered the disease, which can be transmitted from animal to animal, in her flock about a year ago. She said of her basic foundation flock, old English Shrop- shire, none have contracted the disease, of her open -face Shropshires imported from the United States, some did and it took possibly a year for them to die, while her Leiscester sheep are very susceptible to the disease and died fairly quickly. Mrs. Baker says she has found the disease affects every breed differently. She was notified by the health of animals branch of Agriculture Canada a few weeks PG 16 THE RURAL VOICE/JULY 1982 ago that the sheep would be picked up and compensation would be paid. Mrs. Baker says the compensation is at least $9.000 less than she could get on the market and she has since filed papers to launch an appeal in federal court over the amount she has been offered. Mrs. Baker who has been 10 years building up her flock to 370 animals. staying up nights during birthing season and giving all her devoted personal attention. It • as heartbreaking to see the whole flock trucked off to Toronto. She assisted in the loading, calling many of them by name. Dr. Archie Stewart of the regional office of the federal health of animals branch in Toronto says that when a scrapies -infected flock is slaughtered only the carcass meat is sold to the public and the brains are destroyed. Mrs. Baker has been informed that the two sheep that were ill with the disease have been rendered down and not sold as meat. While Mrs. Baker and some other sheepmen are not sure it's safe for human consumption, Dr. Tom Wilson of the Toronto office of the health of animals says "emphatically" there is no threat to humans from the disease. Mrs. Baker insists the public has the right to know. "The government says there's no danger of this being in the meat, but I believe the public should be made aware so people can make up their own minds." She questions the similarities between scrapies and Alzheimer's disease which is under study at the University of Western Ontario and University Hospital in London. Mrs. Baker says the government has been dragging its feet on a policy to eradicate the disease and is upset it has not moved sooner to trace the source of the infection in her flock. Eradication is the policy now. she says, so that Canadian exporters have the right to export. "I reported it a year ago and not until this week did they start suggesting they should follow up and find out whether it could be traced to equipment or stock," she says. Mrs. Baker says she has not decided whether to replace her sheep but if she does she says she will import stock from New Zealand where scrapies has been eradi- cated. New challenges for rural women Centralia College of Agricultural Tech- nology will host its second conference for rural women this August. Last year the "Directions" conference attracted over 100 rural women and Don Cameron. Head of Communications and Continuing Edu- cation at the College expects this year to be even more popular. "We can only accept about 120 people" said Cameron "and we expect to be turning some away". "Unfortunately, conference facili- ties simply can't handle a larger group". The conference will be held August 27 and 28. beginning Friday evening with registration at 6:30 p.m. An evening program is planned and overnight ac- commodation at the College is available. On Saturday a series of eight workshops will be held, four in the morning and four in the afternoon. The workshops will involve discussion on a wide range of new challenges for rural women. Workshop topics will include the changing role of women working on the farm. the chal- lenges of being alone, changing lifestyles because of re-entering the workforce, leaving it. or for other reasons. improving family relationships through better com- munications. individual challenges for creativity and food or nutrition and the challenges they both represent in today's fast -paced society. "We will have excel- lent workshop leaders" Cameron said "And it will be very worthwhile experi- ence for those who attend". If you are interested, plan to register early by phoning Centralia College at (519) 228-6691. There is a $20.00 registra- tion fee that must be paid after your phone registration to hold your spot. Overnight accommodation and breakfast are avail- able for $10.00 but it will be payable at registration on August 27.