Thank you for your reply and your interesting comment. Of course, I am
completely aware of the risks for human health of those pest rodents
(see also the second article that I posted). But that is why
prevention is so important in the first place: we should try to
prevent rodent pests from happening . But if you look at an animal
level, what is then the difference between pest rodents and rodents
used for experimentation? They often belong to exactly the same
species...Do you really think a pest rodent can be compared to
Karadzic? I think not, as a pest rodent probably doesn't know he
causes harm to anyone...it just does what it is naturally good
at...which is by coincidence causing trouble for us :-)
In our article I wanted to state that it remains strange that the
general public tends to see both types of animals from a different
perspective. While at one end, there are bomb checks in cars at
veterinary institutes also in your country in order to counter animal
welfare action groups, at their own house the general public uses all
methods to get rid of some rodents. There should be a better
way....prevention!
> Dear Bastian,
> There is absolutely no doubt that we need to find more humane ways to
> control pest rodents. I believe we all should be striving for that. A
> group of scientists is meeting in the UK on a regular basis to work towards
> that end. We should certainly use the most humane methods available that
> are compliant with the ultimate aim of protecting humane health and
> wellbeing. But exactly how many people would you be prepared to allow to
> die in order to reduce the suffering of rodent pests?
> I look forward to reading the full text of your article. However, for the
> moment I fail to see any parallel at all between the control of pest rodents
> for the benefit of human health and the use of laboratory rodents in animal
> experimentation. I would have thought that the differences between those
> two scenarios are obvious. So I believe your premise, that we should treat
> the two in the same way, to be absolutely mistaken. Perhaps there is some
> logic that I have missed and I will find it in your article?
> This is a rather extreme analogy, but Radovan Karadzic and I are both human
> beings. If I were to stay tonight in the Hague should I expect to be
> treated in the same way as him?
> Regards
> Alan
> Visiting Research Fellow
> University of Reading
> tel: +44 (0)1730 826715
> fax: +44 (0) 1730 826715
> mob: +44 (0) 7881 656564
> a...@alanbuckleconsulting.com -----Original Message-----
> From: RatZooMan-Network@googlegroups.com
> [mailto:RatZooMan-Network@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Dr. Bastiaan
> Meerburg
> Sent: 31 July 2008 12:09
> To: The RatZooMan Network
> Subject: 2 new papers
> Dear colleagues,
> Recently Grant Singleton has invited me to join the RatZooMan Network,
> so, hereby my first post. Two papers will soon be published, and the
> topic might interest you, so that's why I am currently writing this
> post.
> The first article ("The Ethics of Rodent Control') is about the
> inconsistency between the treatment of pest animals (particularly
> rodents) and that of rodents that are used for animal experimentation.
> This article will appear in Pest Management Science soon, and you can
> find the preliminary version via:http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120746731/abstract
> The second article ("The role of rodents and shrews in the
> transmission of Toxoplasma gondii to pigs") will appear in Veterinary
> Parasitology and is about the effect of a rodent control campaign on
> the reduction of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii in pigs. This study
> emphasizes the role of rodents and shrews in the transmission of T.
> gondii to pigs and the importance of rodent control towards production
> of T. gondii-free pig meat.
> You can find this article via the following link:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TD7-4SNGMB...
> er=533256&_coverDate=06%2F03%2F2008&_rdoc=53&_fmt=high&_orig=browse&_srch=d o
> c-info(%23toc%235191%239999%23999999999%2399999%23FLA%23display%23Articles) &
> _cdi=5191&_sort=d&_docanchor=&_ct=67&_acct=C000026798&_version=1&_urlVersio n
> =0&_userid=533256&md5=adfb22a7e30bb585eaae4efece096456
> Best regards,
> Bastiaan
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> Dr. B.G. Meerburg
> Wageningen University & Research Centre
> Plant Research International
> P.O. Box 16
> 6700 AA Wageningen
> The Netherlands
> +31 317481375- Hide quoted text -
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