In Texas we have a student who was banned from show competition this year at a couple of shows. She had a winning ewe last year and in April they disqualified her animal for failing a drug test. It seems that a product used legally in hogs was found in the ewe's system. (Personally, I do not like the product as I have seen too many pigs that cannot walk after eating the substance.) The girl and her father took a lie detector test and past it. The show supervisors did not give a hearing or lift the ban. Now a law suit, not over money, but the right to show.
In America we are supposed to be guiltless until tried in a court of our peers. Yet, every type of thing is believed when it hits the media or gossip channels. I do not know any of the people involved on either side. But it seems to me that we must have the facts before the fan blows.
Many states and shows have very stick laws about showing and animals for food consumption. This is right for the well being of the public and the animal's health! Yet, when a person is accused who has the burden of proof? Who was the dirty doer? Could it have been the breeder? county agent? Vo Ag teacher? Parent? Child? Friend? Fitter? Family member? or even an opponent?
My son had a lamb that we thought would win a big show. The lamb took sick as we arrived. We tube fed it and doctored it. It became so weak we took it to our trailer. It died. I took it to a local vet who posted it. It died from a lead rope being ingested and blocking the digestive track. The rope was not the kind we had ever owned. The lamb was muzzled. Who did it and when did it happen? Someone today is still out there that did not want to loose to us. I was a chairman and had the lamb tested to make sure I would not be sued by anyone who might loose breeding stock or even a lamb that they would take on down the road.
The burden of proof lies with whom when doping accusations are made? What if the ewe ate some of the product left in the pen following the pig show which was a few days before?
In America we are supposed to be guiltless until tried in a court of our peers. Yet, every type of thing is believed when it hits the media or gossip channels. I do not know any of the people involved on either side. But it seems to me that we must have the facts before the fan blows.
Many states and shows have very stick laws about showing and animals for food consumption. This is right for the well being of the public and the animal's health! Yet, when a person is accused who has the burden of proof? Who was the dirty doer? Could it have been the breeder? county agent? Vo Ag teacher? Parent? Child? Friend? Fitter? Family member? or even an opponent?
My son had a lamb that we thought would win a big show. The lamb took sick as we arrived. We tube fed it and doctored it. It became so weak we took it to our trailer. It died. I took it to a local vet who posted it. It died from a lead rope being ingested and blocking the digestive track. The rope was not the kind we had ever owned. The lamb was muzzled. Who did it and when did it happen? Someone today is still out there that did not want to loose to us. I was a chairman and had the lamb tested to make sure I would not be sued by anyone who might loose breeding stock or even a lamb that they would take on down the road.
The burden of proof lies with whom when doping accusations are made? What if the ewe ate some of the product left in the pen following the pig show which was a few days before?