Navajos Wonder Whether Fracking Chemicals Are Deforming Their Livestock

"It took Dorothy Keetso only a few minutes to realize the baby lamb was fatally deformed.

The animal, born June 6, nursed from a bottle and followed on Keetso’s heels as she moved through her family’s home in the small Navajo community of Counselor, New Mexico. The lamb’s belly swelled with milk, Keetso said—and kept swelling. Born without a rectum, the animal was unable to defecate. She died a week later.

The death was a blow to a family of six adult siblings who care for their elderly father and depend on sheep for survival. The family expected the lamb—itself worth about $250 at market—to reproduce and replenish the herd. Its death will cost the family exponentially over the coming years, Keetso said through an interpreter.

“This is our fourth generation of ewes from sheep we raised ourselves,” she said. “This is the first time there has been a birth defect. Every ewe has the prospect of raising so many other lambs through the years, but this one will not bring any return.”

... Stark changes have come to this sleepy community during the decade since Encana Oil & Gas drilled the first horizontal well in the San Juan Basin and introduced hydraulic fracturing to the area. Now this patchwork stretch of earth—divided into plots of federal, state, private and tribally owned land—is pockmarked with drills, pumps, wells and pipelines.

... Keetso called her lamb the first casualty—if not of the extraction industry itself, then certainly of the collision of special interests on the land. The death raises questions of “what if,” she said. “What if our land is being contaminated? What if oil and gas are killing our livestock?” "

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/07/20/what-ifs-frack...
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/01/14/blackhorse-fra...

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Permalink Reply by Jesse Drang on July 28, 2016 at 1:20pm
Paul - I read the linked article. In the long run, it may turn out that fracking may pose a human health risk, but I would then submit that the risk is outweighed by the cost in terms of human health using coal.

Here is an article talking about coal. http://www.catf.us/resources/publications/files/The_Toll_from_Coal.pdf

NG will allow us to move away from coal, which is a net benefit.

Of course, the lives we save from avoiding armed conflict through energy independence should also be factored into the analysis.

Jesse
Permalink Reply by craig on July 28, 2016 at 1:34pm

Paul,

Since there is no mention of the ram used, I propose a similar statement:

What if they were improperly inbreeding all through the 4 generations mentioned?

Inbreeding eventually has certain consequences you know? or maybe  you don't?

Another scare story without the pertinent information...not even mentioning the old uranium mines nearby either? 

Permalink Reply by paleface on July 29, 2016 at 1:09am

Paul,you could ask aunt mom and uncle dad about inbreeding?

Permalink Reply by Trapper on July 28, 2016 at 2:43pm
OMG! More left wing drivel. It does get most tiresome....
Permalink Reply by George on July 29, 2016 at 12:35am
Paul if we got rid of every new technology because of contamination we would be living like the original native Americans. We will use technology to clean up any contamination caused by fracking. This will create even more jobs and protect human and animal kind.
Permalink Reply by George on July 29, 2016 at 12:41am
P.S. you seem affluent and caring Paul why don't you use your own money and buy this family a new animal? That would be really helpful to them and the Christian thing to do.
Permalink Reply by Mike Fulper on July 29, 2016 at 3:03am

These Indians cant "spell".... need more "education"  

Permalink Reply by Mike Fulper on July 29, 2016 at 3:08am

This is an example of the US GOVT   "taking care of all your needs"  for over 100 Years....

The "Reservation Indians"  are controlled by the US GOVT... that means

there already IS no fracking on Indian lands.....

Unless allowed by the US GOVT.....

I think these Natives are " STAND BY THE FORT"  Indians... :)

Permalink Reply by Trapper on July 29, 2016 at 4:27am
Geez....I thought the DNC Convention was over and here we are on Gomarcellus being subjected to Commy BS!
Permalink Reply by Keith A Williams on August 3, 2016 at 7:38am

Here is a direct quote "“This is our fourth generation of ewes from sheep we raised ourselves" !

OMG! That type of inbreeding will lead to birth defects.

And where is the results of the water tests to show what the water quality was before and after drilling.

Another hatchet job!

Permalink Reply by john on August 3, 2016 at 11:29pm

First of all it is not unusual for farm animals to be born dead or with defects.  Secondly, what do the tests of the water wells indicate prior to and after drilling?  People can wonder , I can wonder if I will hit the lottery, but that does not make it so.

JS

Permalink Reply by Keith A Williams on August 5, 2016 at 12:35am

Paul,

Do you really teach? Can you use a search engine?

From Bing search "birth defects in sheep"

1st link from Purdue's ANSC 442 Sheep Management course in Spring 2001

       There are more than 30 known or suspected genetic defects of sheep. Many are lethal

       Rectal prolapse: Rectal prolapse is a serious defect most commonly associated with the meat-type sheep. It is most common among lambs fed a high-concentrate ration. It is believed that this weakness is due to inheritance. This condition is sometimes corrected by surgery, but affected animals often continue to prolapse after surgery. Cull from the flock breeding sheep in which this occurs.

2nd link from New Mexico State University

Rectal prolapse. Rectal prolapse is a serious defect most commonly associated with the meat-type sheep. It is most common among lambs fed a high-concentrate ration. It is believed that this weakness is due to inheritance. This condition is sometimes corrected by surgery, but affected animals often continue to prolapse after surgery. Cull from the flock breeding sheep in which this occurs.

Do I need to "TRAIN YOU"?

Look at http://infovets.com/books/smrm/F/F360.htm

There are 2 types of birth defects, "Inherited and Acquired".

One of the listed INHERITED defects is: "Rectal Prolapse: Rectal prolapse is a serious defect most commonly associated with the meat-type sheep. It is believed that this weakness is an inherited defect. This condition is sometimes corrected by surgery, but affected animals often continue to prolapse after surgery. It is recommended that these animals be culled from the breeding flock/herd. See page C900 for additional details."

BTW

The lamb didn't need to die. If they really wanted to save it, they could have taken it to a VET and the animal could have been saved. Also they need new breeding stock. They need a new ram at least.

Paul, you and your anti-fracking crowd are so intent on making headlines that you can't be bothered to look for the truth.

Shame on you!

Keith Williams

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