At this rate, when (if) the vaccine against Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHE) arrives, there will not be a cow left in these parts. Those that have not died will be sent to the slaughterhouse or their owners will have gotten rid of them because their farms will no longer be profitable. The report published last Friday in these pages is, unfortunately, very revealing and shows that the evil, the plague, also reaches intensive farms, those that produce the milk we drink. The data handled in this chronicle by ranchers from El Piñero are shocking, creating negative perplexity and despair: 27 dead cows and ten newborn calves, five abortions of heifers, 66 sick animals and a decrease in production that reaches 1,200 liters of milk daily. Under these conditions, what can be expected, besides anger and helplessness? Yes, yes, helplessness because, according to their statements, it gives the impression that they are fighting alone against the terrible EHE. Just them and some vets.
Until now, the various administrations have not contributed anything, according to the complaints of the family that is suffering from the mortality and losses. In this case, not even good and usual words, and almost never kept promises since they lack information. They assure that no one tells them anything. A vaccine, a remedy? It does not exist and it seems that it will take a while to arrive; about three years, experts estimate. Hence my initial pessimism: when the supposed antidote is implemented, the cow will be an animal in a museum, in a video, in a photo. Twisting the saying we could say “a dead cow, barley to the tail” instead of “a dead donkey, barley to the tail.” There is another popular adage that could also be applied in this situation: “hare gone, sticks in bed”, meaning desperation and anger. And it can be applied because that is the state of mind that has cowed the livestock sector and many people. If dairy cattle farms also fail, what do we have left to maintain the small population that still resists in the countryside and that, despite the bad events, still hopes to take flight or, at least, make a living from their profession and his work?
It is difficult to solve a problem if we do not know it well. And it seems that, in the case of EHE, ignorance is almost as intense as the few official efforts to try to solve it. I insist: that is one of the grievances on the lips of the affected ranchers who, for months, have been missing “an action protocol, security
Bad times, very bad. And the administrations are looking to the side and engaged only in amnesties, investitures, referendums and struggles for a Power that does not serve to solve (or, at least, try to) the serious problems of ordinary people. Good: Feijóo’s attempt failed; It is likely that Sánchez’s will arrive and that he will not succeed either; we will return to the polls; it will come out almost the same; queries of the king; conflicting opinions, etc., etc. And in the meantime, what do we tell the cows, let them wait, that we are working on it, as Aznar famously said? And to the ranchers, what fables do we tell them? Maybe we should start by following the mandate of one of the ranchers from El Piñero: “Let them leave the office, stop by here and see what is happening to us.”
It wouldn’t be, no, a bad start. It is difficult to solve a problem if we do not know it well. And it seems that, in the case of EHE, ignorance is almost as intense as the few official efforts to try to solve it. I insist: that is one of the grievances in the mouths of the affected ranchers who, for months, have been missing “an action protocol, security; the reality is that we are completely helpless; no one tells us anything; I ask, no one knows nothing; they don’t give us any type of solution to the disease or whether we are going to have a vaccine; or at least help us face so many losses. The phrase, long and dense, perfectly summarizes what is happening and what those affected feel, who express it very clearly: “I am tired of problems, of paperwork, I am tired of work; this is not remunerated; there comes a time in which the body asks you to move on to something else”. Translated: it asks you to leave it, abandon it and for those in the “office” to finally find out what is happening and try to remedy it.
Can you imagine that something similar would happen in an industry, or in a port, or in a neighborhood of large cities and certain places? Can you imagine the position of the administrations, their meetings, words, announcements? But, of course, this is Zamora and this is the agricultural sector, the Cinderella porca, which my mother used to say when she got angry.
2023-10-22 05:01:07
#Vaccinate #tail #dead #cow
