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March 16, 2001/Adar 21, 5761, Vol. 53, No.24
Kosher farms safe in U.K.
RICHARD ALLEN GREENE
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
LONDON - In order to contain the highly contagious livestock virus, known as foot-and-mouth disease, British authorities imposed severe restrictions on the movement of animals. Animals cannot be taken from farm to slaughterhouse, and many stores have seen their stocks of meat disappear.
Kosher slaughter ground to a halt for several days at the end of February, the executive director of the London Board of Shechita, Michael Kester, told JTA.
Most kosher slaughterhouses are small, family-run operations located near the farms that supply them. They were less affected by restrictions on the movement of animals than conventional slaughterhouses.
Foot-and-mouth is harmless to humans, but can be fatal to cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, sheep, pigs and goats.
Farming experts say the fact that animals travel long distances from farm to slaughterhouse is partially responsible for the rapid spread of the disease in Britain, where it was reported on 96 farms in two weeks.
Kester estimates that about 60 percent of Britain's roughly 300,000 Jews keep kosher.
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