NFU RAISES FOOT AND MOUTH ANIMAL WELFARE ALARM
WITH MINISTER
The NFU yesterday continued a series of urgent
talks with Government to discuss the control of foot and mouth and stress the
welfare problems caused by animals being trapped on farms due to movement
restrictions.
More and more reports are coming in from farmers worried about their livestock
with pregnant ewes and cows lacking access to shelter and birthing facilities
and pig housing problems at the top of the list of concerns.
NFU President Ben Gill met last night with Agriculture ministers Nick Brown,
Joyce Quin and Baroness Hayman following a meeting between NFU Deputy President
Tim Bennett and MAFF vets earlier in the day.
In both meetings, the need to urgently establish a system to allow licensed
limited movements of animals on welfare grounds was pressed.
Mr Gill said: "We discussed in detail the acute problems of farmers who
can't move their animals to where they need to be.
"There are a whole host of complications in terms of shelter, feeding,
calving and lambing with major problems also for pig farmers.
"Everyone agreed there is a need for a detailed scheme to be put in place
urgently but that it must be within the constraints of controlling this
disease."
Discussions in the two meetings focussed particularly on two issues - where a
public highway splits a farm preventing animal movements from field to field or
field to shelter, and where animals, particularly pregnant ewes, are in fields
a long distance from their original holding.
On the first issue, it is hoped that a licensing procedure can be announced
imminently that would allow short-distance movements within farming
enterprises. On the second, the NFU is continuing discussions with MAFF which
is investigating how a scheme can be devised to permit the return of animals to
their original holding.
Mr Gill added: "The veterinary advice is that the precise nature of such
schemes will depend on how the disease develops over the next few days. We need
to be ready with a scheme that we can trigger as soon as safely possible.
"The large number of cases of foot and mouth have come to light in the
last 24 hours demonstrates that we cannot let our guard down. I must re-iterate
that our top priority - above everything else - is disease control and
eradication.
"Farmers everywhere must continue to be vigilant and report even their
slightest suspicions to MAFF."
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