Anglesey cull descends into farce

27 March 2001



Anglesey cull descends into farce

By Robert Davies, Wales correspondent

A PLANNED cull of 40,000 sheep to stop the spread of foot-and-mouth disease on Anglesey has descended into farce within hours of getting under way.

The abattoir where the livestock were due to be slaughtered did not have the necessary licence, it emerged on Tuesday (27 March).

Welsh Assembly First Minister Rhodri Morgan claimed that any dead animals would now be burned at the islands disused Mona airfield.

But local farmers are still unhappy because the Mona airfield is in a clean area and close to the Anglesey county show ground.

The cull had already suffered a blow on Monday evening when Anglesey councillors refused to allow slaughtered stock to be buried.

Bob Parry, president of the Farmers Union of Wales, who farms just outside the 50-square-mile cull area, described the events as “a total shambles”.

He blamed the National Assembly for insisting that killing should start before ensuring that the required infrastructure was in place.

Mr Parry said civil servants assumed that sheep would be killed at Welsh Country Foods abattoir at Gaerwen, and carcasses buried at Menai Bridge.

But the slaughterhouse had not recovered its operating licence in time and a this could not be granted until it was known if carcasses could be buried or burned.

“Nobody had bothered to check before scheduling the cull that it could be used for slaughtered sheep,” said Mr Parry.

Farmers who had been ordered to load sheep had to unload them, and some reached the plant before the problem was discovered and could not return.

Welsh Conservative agriculture spokesman Peter Rogers launched a savage attack on Welsh Assembly agriculture minister Carwyn Jones.

“It is absolute anarchy up here,” said Mr Rogers. “Carwyn Jones has created chaos, distress and anger.”

But Mr Jones dismissed the situation as a “minor problem”.

A decision on a pre-emptive cull of livestock in north Powys has also been delayed after a planned video conference was cancelled at the last minute.

Farmers whose livestock were due to be slaughtered have now been called to a meeting in Cardiff on Wednesday (28 March).