Day 113 - 03 Apr 95 - Page 32

     
     1        is what you did say?
     2        A.  No, that was mistake of mine, yes.  The non-therapeutic
     3        ones are used purely as growth promoters.  That is what
     4        I should have said.
     5
     6   Q.   So, there are ones which have a therapeutic purpose and
     7        there are ones which are used as growth promoters?
     8        A.  That is right.
     9
    10   MR. MORRIS:  The ones that are used as growth promoters, what
    11        kind of prevalence is there in the dairy beef herds?
    12        A.  They are used quite frequently.
    13
    14   Q.   When you say "quite frequently", what percentage of cattle
    15        in dairy beef herds?
    16        A.  I would think 40, to 50 per cent have them at some time
    17        or another, because many feeds and, particularly calf
    18        feeds, are sold with these things already in.  The problem
    19        arises more with the other compounds which are supposed to
    20        be sold under a vet's direction, what are called POM
         nowadays -- P-O-M, prescription only medicines -- which
    22        should only be prescribed by a doctor or a vet.  Their use
    23        should be restricted.  They would include familiar
    24        compounds, like penicillins, cephalosporins, sulphur drugs,
    25        tetracyclines, to give a few examples, and I think
    26        I mentioned streptomycin.
    27
    28        The Swan Committee's reports were really circumvented
    29        because they have not fully understood growth promoting
    30        effect and, obviously, they have a growth promoting effect
    31        if they cure diseases, because a disease usually stops an
    32        animal's growth or holds it up.
    33
    34   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What it seems to me is obviously any
    35        therapeutic drug indirectly may have a growth promoting
    36        function because, as you have said, it stops the animal
    37        either being wasted by disease or being inhibited in its
    38        growth by disease.  But those would still be therapeutic if
    39        the predominant purpose is to treat disease of some kind.
    40        What about the growth promoting ones, though?
         A.  Could I just finish that question?
    42
    43   Q.   Yes.
    44        A.  The therapeutic ones were found to have a rather -- it
    45        is still not properly understood -- they do have a growth
    46        promoting effect on healthy animals.  This was discovered
    47        when the residues from the rations of these things were fed
    48        to healthy animals, it was found that although they were
    49        acting as feed, they also acted as production boosters.
    50        That is not fully understood. 
    51 
    52        So, that makes their use attractive to farmers.  They are 
    53        widely used anyway in the animals that we are talking about
    54        for mastitis, treating mastitis, and other infectious
    55        diseases.
    56
    57   MR. MORRIS:  Are there certain diseases where they would be used
    58        for the whole herd as a response?
    59        A.  These would normally be given by injection, not so much
    60        in cattle.