Pulling Animals 



Diagnostics 



Once again randomly selected animals were tested for 

 drugs - and once again no positives were found. We are 

 indebted to the Racing Commission's Laboratory in 

 Jamaica Plain for conducting these tests. Massachusetts 

 has a reciprocal agreement with other New England 

 states insofar as animal drugging is concerned. This 

 agreement re- suited in the banning of one teamster found 

 guilty of administering drugs to his animals at a contest in 

 a nearby state. The "draws" are increasingly popular fair 

 events and the number of exhibitors has risen each year. 



Sales/Auctions 



Statistics of five regularly-scheduled sales appear on 

 page 11. Each has either /and a Staff Veterinarian or an 

 Animal In- spector present. This is also true of certain 

 other sales which are annual events here - sales of feeders, 

 purebred beef or dairy animals, lambs, sheep, other 

 animals. Since facihties exist here in Massachu- setts 

 which are centrally located, and served by the interstate 

 highway system, we are a popular "sale-state." A food- 

 animal sales tax exemption also applies. 



Sheep and Goats 



With increasing sades in goat mUk and both goat and 

 sheep cheeses, many towns require that goats be regularly 

 tested for both tuberculosis and brucellosis although both 

 species appear not to harbor either disease. These rules 

 have caused sheep and goat owners to desire that testing 

 requirements for showing remain in place. The Division 

 has once again offered to meet with dairy goat associa- 

 tions to consider rule changes. 



Specialties 



Food animal "specialties" appear on the increase. 

 There are currently one herd of bison and two farms 

 actively considering the raising of fallow deer for venison. 

 There is also a rapidly increasing number of llama and 

 vicuna herds, farms on which wild horses are trained and 

 donkeys raised and trained to protect sheep from 

 predator attack. We also have fish culture and exotic 

 birds raised for both food and exhibition. Agriculture, 

 today, changes with each passing year. 



Problems 



Three positions lost in 1985 remain unreplaced. At 

 the close of 1988 four other positions were unfilled; one 

 staff Veterinarian (Worcester County); one Poultry In- 

 spector, the Supervisor of Riding Academies and one 

 clerical position. All are critical, and will have a major 

 hmiting effect on the work-load of the Division. 



The lack of long-term planning for animal disease 

 diagnostics remains unchanged. The Division of Animal 

 Health has funded annually a small contract ($24,000) 

 with Veterinary Services at the University of Mas- 

 sachusetts in Amherst. This laboratory continues to offer 

 Pullorum testing in Poultry and is federally funded under 

 a state-federal agreement to carry out the Brucellosis- 

 testing program, but these are temporary procedures and 

 none addresses the problem in its entirety. Mas- 

 sachusetts Division of Animal Health remains, the only 

 such agency in the country that does not have a properly 

 funded, properly staffed domestic animal disease testing 

 laboratory. This lack all but guarantees the Mas- 

 sachusetts inabiUty to cope with any large animal disease 

 outbreak. Instant diagnostic capability is a primary con- 

 trol tool; disease prevention is far less costly than disease 

 eradication. 



Conclusion 



The seventeen people currently employed in the 

 Division of Animal Health deserve the livestock 

 industry's thanks for their part in maintaining the state's 

 disease-FREE status in Tuberculosis, Brucellosis and 

 Pullorum. No other state has accomplished so much with 

 so few people, and so many farm premises and animals. 

 We wish to acknowledge the help we have had from the 

 following people and agencies: 



Governor Michael S. Dukakis, Secretary of Environ- 

 mental Affairs James Hoyte and Commissioner of Food 

 and Agriculture August Schumacher, Jr. for their con- 

 tinued support; A number of people in the legislature, 

 and especially the Committee on Natural Resources, for 

 their interest and cooperation; Dr. William Smith, area 

 Veterinarian in Charge, USDA-APHIS for a great deal of 

 assistance; Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation, the 

 Animal Rescue League of Boston and Massachusetts 

 Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for 

 advice and support; Dr. George Faddoul of the Suburban 

 Experiment Station and Dr. Donald Black of the Depart- 

 ment of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, both of the 

 University of Massachusetts, for their invaluable help in 

 diagnostic sevices; The practicing large-animal 

 Veterinarians in this state, the purebred associations, the 

 cattle and swine dealers, the sale-barn managers and the 

 entire livestock farming community for their commitment 

 to our goals of disease-free status. 



A disease-free status is attainable only when everyone 

 concerned believes in it and works at its accomplishment. 



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