“Help stop the destruction of farm animals”: ​​an epidemiological scientist appealed to Putin

Something is wrong with farm animals in a number of regions of the Russian Federation: in the Republics of Khakassia, Buryatia, Udmurtia, Tyva, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Irkutsk, Amur and Astrakhan, tens of thousands of farm animals have been killed (and in some places the destruction continues). This is happening under the auspices of the fight against “infectious nodular dermatitis of cattle.” As a result, thousands of rural families lost their breadwinners – this is an unimaginable tragedy for them. An epidemiological scientist has evidence that this is not dermatitis at all, but foot and mouth disease is the most contagious disease in the world, common to humans and animals. But whether it’s dermatitis or foot-and-mouth disease, animals should be isolated, treated, vaccinated, not killed. “MK” looked into this alarming situation.

Foot and mouth disease is an acute, highly contagious disease of artiodactyls, manifested by fever, damage to the mucous membranes of the mouth, skin of the corolla and udder, and in young animals – damage to the myocardium and skeletal muscles. People can become infected with foot-and-mouth disease – it manifests itself as malaise, muscle pain, rashes, the temperature can rise to 40 degrees C. According to epidemiological scientists (who study the patterns of occurrence, spread and extinction of infectious diseases in populations and methods of prevention and control of them), foot-and-mouth disease can have catastrophic economic, social and environmental consequences. Due to its high infectiousness, foot and mouth disease is even considered a biological weapon.

And now reliable evidence has appeared that under the guise of quarantine for “infectious nodular dermatitis of cattle”, foot and mouth disease is actually being hidden.

According to official data provided by the Scientific Consulting Center for the Development and Transfer of System Technologies in Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture in its address to Russian President Vladimir Putin, tens of thousands of farm animals were killed and burned in a number of Russian regions from October to March. In Khakassia there are 4,000 cows, 10,000 sheep and goats and 500 pigs, while in the Khakassian village of Bograd with a population of 4,345 people, 100% of farm animals were destroyed. In the Irkutsk region, 1,880 cows were killed in the Belorechenskoye agricultural joint stock company alone, thousands of bulls were killed on farms, and now a restoration of milk and meat production volumes in the region can only be expected by the end of 2025.

The alarm was sounded by scientist, epidemiologist and public figure Svetlana Shchepyotkina, the head of this Scientific Consulting Center. She runs a section on veterinary medicine, “Rural Hour,” and residents began sending her photos and videos of how their livestock was confiscated and killed.

“From October 11, 2023 to February 28 of this year, in eight regions of Russia, the management introduced quarantine for “bovine contagious nodular dermatitis” (LCD) and, contrary to veterinary rules, destroyed cows, goats, sheep, and pigs,” she told MK. .

– What does “contrary to veterinary regulations” mean?

– Veterinary rules are mandatory for all individuals and legal entities in the country. For bovine LSD, animals are treated and susceptible animals are vaccinated. Instead, animals are destroyed, and not just cows (although bovine itch – even judging by the name – can only be found in cattle. – Auto.), but also sheep, goats, pigs…

At the same time, the results of laboratory tests and photographic and video materials do not speak of “nodular dermatitis”, but of foot and mouth disease. Judging, for example, by photos and videos sent from Buryatia and Tyva, there is a clear clinical picture of foot and mouth disease. From Khakassia there are results of laboratory tests, which directly indicate: “Foot and mouth disease positive” (MK has copies at its disposal with a diagnosis of “foot and mouth disease.” – Auto.). I have all the evidence that under the guise of bovine disease, the regional authorities are hiding foot and mouth disease. The fact is that if the authorities officially recognized foot-and-mouth disease, then the export of any products from the regions would be prohibited during the elimination of the epizootic outbreak. But the business must be preserved! And with cattle ulcers, products can be moved. To hide foot and mouth disease, they decided to destroy the animals.

Livestock is confiscated not only from large farms, but also from very small ones – and in many rural families this is not just “livestock”, these are actually pets-nurse-feeders, how many calves, goats and lambs have been fed by children!.. As a result, they are ruined many rural families. This is a terrible tragedy for them. I have an extract from a hospital in the Bogradsky district about the stroke of a woman whose cows were killed in front of her eyes. Old people cannot cope with grief and end up in hospitals…

“The destruction of animals due to foot-and-mouth disease leads to the rapid spread of the epizootic over tens and hundreds of kilometers – through the corpses of animals, on car wheels, on clothes,” Shchepyotkina worries. – Even while studying at the institute, leading epizootologists told how this infection was transported on a cap thousands of kilometers away. Many videos and photographs from Khakassia show how the animals were killed, loaded, transported… The car is leaking, there is no disinfection. Precisely because foot and mouth disease is the most contagious disease in the world, sick animals need to be isolated and vaccinated, but not killed. There are guidelines from FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) and OIE (World Society for the Protection of Animals) with clear instructions for veterinarians on vaccination and monitoring of foot and mouth disease. The old instructions provided algorithms for isolating animals, changing protective clothing upon entry and disinfection and shower upon leaving an epizootic outbreak – so as not to spread the infection. And here the question arises: why have veterinary rules been changed in recent years in favor of the spread of diseases? For example, for smallpox, sheep and goats were previously treated and vaccinated, but now they are killed…

According to the scientist, the USSR developed a comprehensive system of anti-foot and mouth disease measures, the basis of which was vaccination. The effectiveness of these measures is without the illegal barbaric destruction of animals! – demonstrated by the Altai Territory, where in the fall of 2023 all livestock were vaccinated in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation. And now, as she says, in areas with supposedly “Bovine ID”, vaccination is carried out in violation of the federal law “On the Circulation of Medicines” – cows, goats, and sheep are injected with something from bottles without labels, instructions, vaccination certificates do not provide. There have been widespread cases of detection of the virus after vaccination with the subsequent destruction of animals, and if owners report the death of animals after “vaccinations”, they are brought to administrative responsibility for campaigning against vaccination…

MK spoke with one of the affected farmers from Khakassia.

“In December, clinically healthy cattle, sheep and cows worth about 15 million rubles were confiscated from me, which have not yet been compensated,” the head of the Suvorov peasant farm (Khakassia, Bogradsky district), veterinarian Andrei Suvorov told us. – These are 126 Hereford cows and 756 heads of sheep. As a farmer and as a practicing veterinarian, I followed the development of the situation with livestock diseases in the Bograd region. Together with other farmers, we were looking for ways to channel this situation into legal channels. As a result, we managed to stop the destruction of livestock in the Askiz region.”

According to the Ministry of Agriculture of Khakassia as of January 11, over 141 million rubles were spent from the Reserve Fund of the Government of the Republic of Khakassia to eliminate emergencies, of which almost 84 were payments to livestock owners, 54.5 were financing measures to eliminate the consequences of the disease. On March 13, 2024, the amount of compensation paid increased to 200 million rubles – however, many residents demonstrate the refusals of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Khakassia and are preparing class action lawsuits, so it is not clear to whom these funds were paid.

According to Shchepetkina, this situation could have developed due to the fact that since 2002 our country has not had a federal structure of the state veterinary service and state programs for the control of mass infectious animal diseases, so the regions, under the guise of supposed veterinary measures, are solving their own problems.

Residents have written numerous appeals across the entire vertical of government authorities and regulatory organizations – however, all of them are transferred to regional authorities, who continue to illegally kill animals.

In Shchepetkina’s official response to her appeal from the Ministry of Agriculture of Khakassia dated March 26, 2024, officials insist on nodular dermatitis and the legality of the measures being taken: “Due to the fact that this disease is part of a group of contagious diseases that lead to mass death of farm animals and huge economic losses, in accordance with the Veterinary Rules for the regionalization of the territory of Russia, approved by Order of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia No. 635… a “Comprehensive Action Plan for the Elimination of Epizootic Foci of the Disease” was developed and approved, which, among other things, provides for: the alienation and removal of all patients, recovered and susceptible animals in an epizootic outbreak; vaccinating susceptible animals in a threatened area. The entire range of ongoing activities has been agreed upon to ensure compliance with the law with all supervisory authorities.”

– What do you think needs to be done now? According to the official answers, is everything happening legally?

– This is not true. Therefore, we sent an appeal addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, where on behalf of thousands of rural residents of these eight Russian regions we ask to cancel illegal actions to destroy farm animals and order the organization of anti-epizootic measures in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, and so that such situations never happen again, we ask for direct instructions to the government, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Investigative Committee to understand the situation and find those responsible for the illegal destruction of the population’s animals, the ruin of thousands of families and the misuse of hundreds of millions of rubles.