Sheilagh Kremers – the Ogwell farmer who fought a lengthy battle earlier this year to save her pedigree Dexter calf Mous'l Fern after it tested positive for bovine TB – learned this week that her 11 other Dexters have tested clear of the disease. Mrs Kremers told the Advertiser: 'I had been dreading these tests, but now I am delighted. 'I always said that Fern never had TB – how can one animal have a highly contagious disease if all the others are clear?' Fern was slaughtered by Defra on April 7. It was the end of a fight that had begun in mid-December last year, when the calf was given a TB test that Defra eventually admitted was faulty. Ms Kremers was granted an unheard-of second test, but this one – taken in March – showed the animal to be a reactor, which meant it had been exposed to causative bacteria for the disease. After valuation arguments, Ms Kremers finally gave way and the calf was shot by Defra in early April. A post mortem report found TB in the animal's throat. Tissue samples from the tumour were taken to be cultured, and Defra reported after three weeks that the results were positive. Mrs Kremers, a retired teacher, was still sceptical this week. 'Defra were determined Fern would have TB,' she said. 'Three weeks is not long enough to culture tissue samples – I have been told it takes six weeks. 'Defra lectured me, saying Fern would be riddled with TB and it would spread through the herd. He wasn't, and it didn't.' Ms Kremers' Dexter herd will have to be retested in two months' time. If those tests are also clear, the farm will return to the normal pattern of annual testing and will be free from TB restrictions. This paper was unable to contact Defra at the time of going to press.
