LIVESTOCK BREEDERS CREATED AN ASSOCIATION ''THE VOICE OF THE LIVESTOCK BREEDERS'' - THEY ASK FOR A MEETING WITH PRESIDENT CHRISTODOULIDIS

LIVESTOCK BREEDERS CREATED AN ASSOCIATION ''THE VOICE OF THE LIVESTOCK BREEDERS'' - THEY ASK FOR A MEETING WITH PRESIDENT CHRISTODOULIDIS - Filenews 29/4

A link called "The Voice of Livestock Breeders" was created by the livestock farmers, who organized protest mobilizations for foot-and-mouth disease recently, as stated by their spokesperson, Stella Petrou, noting at the same time that they are requesting a meeting with the President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulidis.

In a statement from the association, they state that they intend to request "an immediate meeting with the President of the Republic, in order to bring before him the serious issues that have arisen in the sector, with particular emphasis on the management of foot-and-mouth disease".

They note that through the intended meeting, the breeders aim "to implement an emergency vaccination strategy, where scientifically feasible, instead of the immediate killing of all animals".

Their goal is also the "exception and special protection of local and rare breeds, which are an invaluable genetic wealth for Cyprus".

They call for "the introduction of a mandatory second laboratory test before any decision to kill, as well as the possibility of independent confirmation of the results".

They also aim to "implement targeted isolation measures instead of the total killing of entire herds where possible".

Their demands include "ensuring full, fair and immediate compensation to affected livestock farmers, including loss of income" and "enhancing transparency, with the presence of livestock farmers' representatives in sampling and decision-making processes".

Ms. Petrou stated that the association was established on Tuesday night and that they have about 95 members.