Comment from jean public

Samples are sent to the USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. Any positive finding at that laboratory is considered a "presumptive positive," and samples are sent to the United Kingdom's Central Veterinary Laboratory, which is also known as the world reference laboratory, for confirmation." Legal Dead End In 2004, Houghton Freeman, philanthropist and owner of one of the flocks of Vermont sheep filed suit against USDA in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims along with Larry and Linda Faillace. Although Freeman and the Faillaces were chiefly seeking to have the USDA admit that their sheep were healthy and the seizure unwarranted, the U.S. Claims Court was the only venue available. But the sheep had already been taken and killed in 2001, making their Federal Appeals Court case moot. The law firm representing the flock owners estimated the suit would cost around a quarter of a million dollars, and Freeman bore the cost of the suit for both farms. When the lawsuit was finally settled in 2009, Freeman was out of pocket a great deal more than the original estimate and settled for less than a third of what the lawsuit had cost him. The Faillace's only received the $215,000 paid to them in 2002 for their 125 sheep and hundreds of straws of frozen semen, which were all destroyed. According to the Faillaces, although the Federal Claims Court case did not result in further compensation, it did yield what they were looking for, which was proof their sheep were healthy, and more importantly, documents and admissions clearly demonstrating USDA officials were aware of their sheep's health long before the sheep were taken and killed. Unequal Treatment The flock owners had sold some of their purebred registered East Friesian rams for $5,000 each because they were the only purebreds in the United States with generations of outstanding milk records to back them up. In addition the Faillaces had the only purebred Beltex sheep in Americ