Over the past few years Holland has been affected by several major animal disease outbreaks. It started in 1997 with Classical Swine Fever (CSF) and continued with FMD in 2001 and AI (bird flu) in 2003. These outbreaks and especially the consequences shocked society as a whole. For the first time, animal fanciers and smallholders were confronted with the notion that the 'innocent days' of keeping some animals in the back yard were over. Suddenly we realized that something had to be done to safeguard smallholding and keeping animals as pets. And this was the beginning of the NBvH (Dutch Smallholders Association) in 2002.
The first two years we were considered to be just a bunch of animal activists, but then our organization was accepted by the authorities as a serious partner in deliberations for future policies. They realized that the public would not accept another period of mass killing when an outbreak of any of the mentioned diseases occurred again.
For the first time the authorities were confronted with the existence of smallholders and fanciers. Never before had these been in the picture or reckoned with in control policies. The NBvH became expert on all varieties of farm animals. Our main issues were, and are, the notifiable diseases and the registration of farm animals. We systematically interfered, with letters, to the Minister and to the Parliament. We asked/demanded for an audience with them - and were granted these many times. To make our point in Europe we also wrote to the MEPs and Marcos Kyprianou, the Commissioner. This way we tried to explain why differentiation between commercial and non-commercial holding is essential.
We were able to influence the new European Directives through the Dutch Department of Agriculture and the Dutch contingency plans for FMD, CSF and AI. The new Directive for bird flu was accepted just recently, in connection with which we drafted a letter to the EU-Council demanding to abandon the non-vaccination programme for industrial poultry: the only efficient way to fight the threatening situation regarding bird flu in the world.
In Holland, research into the role of hobby holders in connection with spreading the disease showed clearly that hobby animals are hardly/no risk. The real danger lies in the mass numbers of industrial poultry. The tiniest bit of virus material can infect tens of thousands of animals packed together in barns. The virus ejection, because of the ventilation system, is huge and creates mass outbreaks. Preventive vaccination is the solution.
Free range commercial poultry is at risk because of possible infection through migrating birds. This is still a point of discussion; many claim that the often sloppy checking and the hygiene of poultry transport, for instance, or the intensive contacts between producers are far more risky. Again preventive vaccination is the solution.