Letters | FMD is now personal

Have you ever looked into the eyes of a cow you’ve known since it was a calf and had to put a bullet in its head?” As I opened myWeekend Witnesson Saturday (February 28,2026), this line by Mooi River farmer Rob Strachan struck me like a bullet in the head. The beautiful Saturday morning became all cloudy, murky and misty. In my eyes.

Like pets, all cows have names, and names make everything and anything so much more personal. I wonder if Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuizen, on his visit to Colbourne Dairy Farm, got to interact with some of these cows, addressed them by name, looked into their eyes, saw the all-encompassing pain and desperation? Because foot-and mouth disease is now personal!