Millions of animals which died during the foot-and-mouth crisis two years ago were remembered yesterday as a special memorial was unveiled. The Duchess of Hamilton dedicated the commemoration stone, which has been sited in a garden at the Mossburn Animal Centre at Hightae, near Lockerbie in Dumfriesshire, during a special ceremony. The animal sanctuary is owned by Juanita Wilson, who saved 14 goats and three sheep from slaughter after taking her high-profile fight against the Scottish Executive's pre-emptive cull policy to the courts. The 10ft tall memorial features a steel plaque expressing "outrage" at the mass cull as well as the heads of a sheep, a pig, a cow and a goat carved in sandstone. About 100 people, including local councillor Andrew Bell-Irving and MSP David Mundell, turned up yesterday to hear the Duchess pay tribute to the animals which died. She said: "This memorial stands in memory to all the people and all the animals who suffered, not only in this area, but throughout Scotland. "While none of us may know what tomorrow may bring, it is important for each of us to do what we can to ensure, in future, the events of 2001 are not repeated again." Mrs Wilson said: "The memorial is to remember the 11 million animals killed during the foot-and-mouth crisis, most of whom died unnecessarily. "We really must never let that kind of holocaust happen again because the whole thing wasn't just about animals, it was about people's lives being wrecked." The plaque reads: "This memorial is dedicated to all the animals needlessly slaughtered in the foot-and-mouth crisis of 2001. "We remember the persecution of the animal kingdom and the trauma inflicted upon our countryside. "We resolve to work towards a more respectful, harmonious and sustainable relationship between the animal and human kingdoms. "We resolve to ensure that such an outrage will never be allowed to happen again." She lost her first court action against the Executive in May 2001 but after replacing her legal team was granted an 11th hour reprieve. This gave her new lawyers extra time to fight the policy of culling animals within three kilometres (1.8 miles) of infected farms. On the eve of Ms Wilson's return to the Court of Session in Edinburgh, the contiguous cull policy was scrapped and her animals were saved. At the time the Executive insisted the timely policy change reflected a slowdown in the spread of the disease in Scotland. | 
