Chat
12-18-2014, 12:15 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-18-2014, 12:20 AM by Dave-Trinity-Farms.)
Good insight Saph. And having raised goats the better part of my life and the situation I started off in, I have pretty good insight into domesticated goat and sheep diseases and their transmissions. There are things like JOHNES that is a ruminant only disease. Meaning animals that chew cud (sheep, goats, cows...) with multiple stomachs are effected and easily transfer across difference species. CASEOUS LYMPHADENITIS is another disease that is easily passed from sheep to goat. Then there are things like CAPRINE ARTHRITIS ENCEPHALITIS in goats / Ovine Progressive Pneumonia Virus (OPPV) in sheep that can jump the species barrier but have a hard time doing so and have to mutate a little to do so.
So when you talk about the science of it I completely understand and agree. The fact that there is research going on is great but it could be several years before we get the answers we seek. So determining the risk and how to manage it maybe our only path for now. But in assessing the risk, its our responsibility to error on the side of caution. Knowing what I know about domesticated goats and sheep. Knowing that ailments can be passed from deer to goats, I am concerned that wild sheep may indeed be at risk. Even if that risk is as small as the odds of winning the lottery. Thus my comment on the need to know the science.
As I read the transcript there were a few comments that didnt sit well with me and those were some of the suggested steps we take to prevent transmission. As I mentioned, the high line risk. This maybe the optimum time where transmission could happen. As we have all heard the stories of pack goat people filling their tags in their camp because an elk or a deer came in to check out the goats. Whats to stop a wild sheep from doing the same? The counter comments as to them not having any control over the wild sheep was a valid point. So the suggestion that high lining and or the light sleeping of goat owners holds no weight and should be discarded. I believe full containment of goats in camp either in a trailer or behind a portable electric fence like what Nancy uses are the best ways to eliminate the risk. And thats what our speakers went into this meeting saying. The only way we will keep these areas open to goats is to go into these meetings with a rock solid plan of risk prevention. Something that proves the minimal risk we have been stating. Most of the suggestions do not directly address the out in the woods risk. Permits and GPS and bonded goats, although good, do not eliminate the risks enough in the eyes of our opponents. And we have to prove to them we are willing to do whatever it takes until the science has a chance to give the answers we seek.
Maybe we need an open discussion thread to discuss ideas on how we can eliminate every possible risk we can. I think if we do this and present a solid risk prevention plan that they will not be able to poke holes in, we might find ourselves on more solid ground.
So when you talk about the science of it I completely understand and agree. The fact that there is research going on is great but it could be several years before we get the answers we seek. So determining the risk and how to manage it maybe our only path for now. But in assessing the risk, its our responsibility to error on the side of caution. Knowing what I know about domesticated goats and sheep. Knowing that ailments can be passed from deer to goats, I am concerned that wild sheep may indeed be at risk. Even if that risk is as small as the odds of winning the lottery. Thus my comment on the need to know the science.
As I read the transcript there were a few comments that didnt sit well with me and those were some of the suggested steps we take to prevent transmission. As I mentioned, the high line risk. This maybe the optimum time where transmission could happen. As we have all heard the stories of pack goat people filling their tags in their camp because an elk or a deer came in to check out the goats. Whats to stop a wild sheep from doing the same? The counter comments as to them not having any control over the wild sheep was a valid point. So the suggestion that high lining and or the light sleeping of goat owners holds no weight and should be discarded. I believe full containment of goats in camp either in a trailer or behind a portable electric fence like what Nancy uses are the best ways to eliminate the risk. And thats what our speakers went into this meeting saying. The only way we will keep these areas open to goats is to go into these meetings with a rock solid plan of risk prevention. Something that proves the minimal risk we have been stating. Most of the suggestions do not directly address the out in the woods risk. Permits and GPS and bonded goats, although good, do not eliminate the risks enough in the eyes of our opponents. And we have to prove to them we are willing to do whatever it takes until the science has a chance to give the answers we seek.
Maybe we need an open discussion thread to discuss ideas on how we can eliminate every possible risk we can. I think if we do this and present a solid risk prevention plan that they will not be able to poke holes in, we might find ourselves on more solid ground.