Amendment plea in selective cull
Amendment plea in selective cull
GOVERNMENT has asked the EU commission to consider an amendment to the selective cull.
At the moment, the cull is restricted to cohorts, or cattle born in the same herd as a BSE case. The proposal now on the table in Brussels would extend the cull to include all cattle exposed to the same feedstuffs as a BSE case during the first six months of life, even if they were not born in the same herd.
According to MAFF, the amendment takes account of the fact that some animals move from their natal herd at a very young age, before having any solid feed. The ministry has no figures of how many extra cattle might now be added to the cull but says it is not expected to be a significant number.
The proposal is separate from the plan to further extend the selective cull to take account of maternal transmission of BSE. Farm minister, Jack Cunningham, has said he will add up to 17,000 calves, whose dams subsequently developed BSE, to the cull if the EU accepts that the export ban should be lifted on beef from cattle born after Aug 1, 1996.
Latest figures from MAFF show that 29,296 cattle have been slaughtered so far as part of the selective cull scheme.