Quote:
PHOENIX THE MUM
PHOENIX, the calf who rose from the ashes of the foot-and-mouth horror, has become a mum.
She gave birth two years after the Mirror helped her win a famous rep-rieve from the cull that wiped out two million farm animals.
Phoenix stole the heart of the nation after surviving five days beneath the body of her slaughtered mother.
Ministry officials who arrived to disinfect a culled herd opened a barn to find themselves confronted by the little snow-white charolais.
She was saved on the orders of Tony Blair and the heart-warming episode forced the Premier and farm inspectors to rethink their policy of mass culling.
Phoenix gave birth at 50-acre Clarence farm, near Axminster, Devon.
Owners Michaela and Philip Board are keeping the calf out of sight after a newspaper won a deal for exclusive photo rights.
Yesterday they wouldn't even confirm what sex the calf is.
But before it was born Michaela revealed: "We're not sure who the father is because Phoenix was artificially inseminated. We asked for a small bull, so it could have been a friesian.
"The firm came with gloves and a syringe, so it wasn't very romantic. She had a bit of a surprised look on her face and was very quiet afterwards."
The Boards lost their entire stock of 70 sheep and cattle in April 2001 after a neighbouring farm was found to have foot and mouth disease.
With the exception, that is, of two-week-old Phoenix, born on Friday the 13th. Her survival sparked a bitter row between Government ministers.
But it was the flood of emails and phone calls from Mirror readers that led the great debate over Phoenix.
They were sickened by the sight of piles of slaughtered animals burning on stinking funeral pyres.
The public outcry prompted Tony Blair to issue a last-minute reprieve for the calf after top-level discussions between ministers and vets.
It signalled a dramatic U-turn in the Government's slaughter policy.
A senior source close to Tony Blair was forced to admit: "Phoenix is an exceptional case."
The Mirror had argued for vaccination, rather than the all-out killing of cattle found close to infected herds.
The smallholding where Phoenix was born was three miles from the nearest tainted one.
Agriculture officials dismissed her reprieve as "hideous sentimentality".
But it was later revealed that not all the culls were necessary and that there had, quite literally, been overkill.
Phoenix was taken to agricultural shows all over the country to raise money for leukaemia charities following 44-year-old Philip's recovery from the disease.
She had offers to appear in panto, but these were turned down, and she received fan mail from all over the world.
The Boards, who have a 13-year-old son Ross, are believed to want to keep the new calf as a pet, just as they've done with Phoenix.
Last night, both mother and baby were said to be doing well at the farm.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/co ... _page.html
sorry! *walks back out again*