Nightline: Daily E-mail (3/27)

ByABC News
March 27, 2001, 5:33 PM

W A S H I N G T O N, March 27 -- For years my friend's dog was a source of tension in her marriage. Herhusband complained constantly about the dog.

The dog was not entirely house-trained and seemed to have an affection for relieving herself on thecarpet by the husband's side of the bed. She terrified various mailcarriers and delivery people. She scratched antique furniture, gnawed onshoes and snatched food from the kitchen counters. She once ate an entireplate of raw hamburgers. But when the dog grew terminally ill andeventually had to be put down, no one grieved more deeply than my friend'shusband. "She was a good friend," he explained through his tears.

One can only imagine the pain of the farmers in the U.K. and otherEuropean countries this week as thousands of cows, sheep, pigs and otherlivestock are slaughtered in an effort to stop the spread of foot andmouth disease. These aren't their pets, but as with my friend'scomplicated relationship with his dog, they are good friends.

Tonight's broadcast will include a report from correspondent Jim Wooten,who traveled to the English countryside and talked with farmers there. Inaddition to slaughtering their livestock ending their livelihood forthe time being many of these people are quarantined in their homes,waiting out the containment of the virus. Agriculture experts worry thatthe end is not yet in sight. Experts in the U.K. predict that it will takethe slaughter of 31 million animals, half of the country's herds, tocontain it.

But could it happen here? In a report from California, correspondent JudyMuller will explain that not only could it happen, but it has happened. In1924 California was hit with a terrible outbreak of foot and mouthdisease. She will explain what happened then and the steps that are beingtaken to avoid anything like it again.

But despite the precautions taken,some experts worry whether enough is being done. While many experts praisethe surveillance done here by the Department of Agriculture, the FDA andthe Customs Service to keep this and other diseases out, many point outthat the U.K. had strong surveillance, too, and it has been overwhelmed byfoot and mouth.