No evidence wind farms cause deformities in foals?
National Wind Watch, April 11, 2024
An AFP Fact Check by Gwen Roley of AFP Canada [link], “No evidence wind farms cause deformities in foals” (10 April 2024), cites, “The consensus among faculty and staff members spoken to at the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UCVM) is that there is no scientific basis to wind turbines causing deformities in horses.”
But the Portuguese study directly addressed that:
“To investigate a possible genetic cause, two foals from distinct bloodlines were brought to the stud. These also developed the deformities after 6 months. Two of the affected foals were placed in a pasture away from the initial one and two others were admitted at the Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária de Lisboa. In those animals, except for one that had to be euthanized for humane reasons, an improvement was observed on their condition.” [link]
As noted in the fact check, “AFP found no studies confirming [the study’s] hypothesis.” Neither did AFP find any studies debunking it.
It is stated above their contact form that AFP fact-checking teams verify only facts, not opinions or beliefs. Presumably, such verification also relies on facts, not opinions of beliefs. The UCVM faculty and staff members spoken to, according to an email from the institution, did not test – or cite a test of – the Portuguese study’s hypothesis. They only doubted it as a matter of opinion and don’t even seem to have read it.
AFP needs to retract their fact check as misinformation.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2024/05/15/no-evidence-wind-farms-cause-deformities-in-foals/