Bring On the Big Guns.(slaughter of animals to control foot-and-mouth disease)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

In the heyday of empire, British snipers picked off colonials during the American Revolution. They took out the French in the Napoleonic Wars and kept troubled Irish dissidents at bay. But now, the crisis is at home. "We should adopt a policy of slaughter on suspicion," said opposition leader William Hague last week. He was talking of any animal unlucky enough to be harboring foot-and-mouth disease. The disease is ravaging the countryside, and last week it spread to Europe. Britain announced 300,000 more animals would have to be slaughtered. But how to bag the nimble wild ...