Fair cancels pig exhibits

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(Host) A staple of fair season won’t be seen when the Caledonia County Fair begins its five-day run next week.

Fair organizers say they’ve canceled any pig exhibits this year because of concerns related to the swine flu outbreak.

VPR’s Ross Sneyd has more.

(Sneyd) Most years, the Caledonia County Fair in Lyndonville has just a couple of exhibits with pigs.

There’s usually a sow and her piglets for kids and families to look at. And there’s also been a "pig scramble" where kids get to chase and catch them.

Usually it’s the scramble that causes some controversy. This year, though, there have been a lot of questions about why there won’t be any pigs on the fairgrounds.

President Dick Lawrence says members of the fair board decided they didn’t want to contribute to worries about swine flu.

(0820Lawrence1) "It’s all in anticipation of what might happen. If there’s a big epidemic as kids go back to school and somebody says, ‘It’s caused by the pigs at the fair,’ we didn’t need that negative publicity, either, even though it’s untrue. We didn’t even need it as a possibility. And I think that’s why we erred the way we did. Or, went on the side of being very cautious."

(Sneyd) Lawrence says his fair board probably wouldn’t even have given the issue any thought if it weren’t for the school schedule.

The fair kicks off on Wednesday – the same day many kids are headed back to school in Caledonia County.

A number of schools around the country have had outbreaks of swine flu. Even though there hasn’t been evidence of flu passing from pigs to humans, Lawrence says the fair decided it was better just to give up what’s been a small part of the annual event.

State veterinarian Doctor Kristen Haas says there’s no state policy about showing pigs at the fair in the midst of the swine flu outbreak.

(0820Haas1) "Based on … the fact that swine do not appear to be involved with the transmission of this disease to people, we are not issuing any blanket policies or mandates related to whether swine can be present at the fairs."

(Sneyd) Doctor Haas says the Agriculture Agency always advises people who attend fairs to be careful about washing their hands after being around animals. But she says that’s just about good hygiene, not the flu.

About 30,000 people attend the Caledonia County fair in Lyndonville every year. Organizers say even without any pigs, there will be plenty for everyone to see and do next week, from sheep and cattle shows to the midway and the demolition derby.

For VPR News, I’m Ross Sneyd.

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