Thursday, February 05, 2009

Another passenger...

Even in the depths of a multi $trillion recession, there is no end of the ability of our Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to waste spend taxpayers' money.

Latest to benefit from DEFRA's largesse, is the University of Reading's Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics Research Unit (VEERU). The department is carrying out some online research under project title No SE3253, to try to discover:
"descriptive information which may not have been recorded previously, in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the [bTB] outbreaks and possible risk factors".
Reading's Keith Allison hopes that anyone affected may be kind enough to devote between fifteen to twenty minutes on ticking boxes - "more if you want to add 'free text' comments, but that is optional," he explains.

Kind enough? Sheesh. Another university expressing 'gratitude' for my time - while putting a bill into the taxpayer for its own? Sounds about right.

The survey is open to anyone involved in badger Tuberculosis: farmers veterinarians and others, with experience of the disease since 1980, and can be accessed here. It begins:
Welcome to the VEERU on-line confidential consultation with veterinary surgeons, farmers and others with practical field experience of bovine TB (bTB) in England since 1980.
Your input is very valuable for this project and will help guide future prevention and control policy.
You will not be identifiable from the information you provide.
You will have the option to provide your email if you would like feed back, or are willing to be contacted by VEERU researchers for further discussion on particular issues that you may raise.

The amount of passengers, beneficiaries of this catastrophic and totally avoidable crisis, show no sign of alighting from Defras' gravy train.

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