Army starts burying cattle carcasses

2 April 2001



Army starts burying cattle carcasses

by Alistair Driver

THE Army has finally started to bury the carcasses of cattle it transported to a huge pit for animals slaughtered because of foot-and-mouth in Cumbria.

The government gave the go-ahead to bury cattle born after Aug 1, 1996, the date new BSE control measures were introduced, on Monday (April 2).

Twenty lorries of cattle carcasses had been held up at the Great Orton site after Department of Health officials delayed plans to bury them.

Incinerating dead livestock has proved time consuming. But health officials were worried the carcasses could pose a BSE health risk.

The Ministry of Agriculture was told by its BSE advisors, the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee, that it was safe to bury the cattle.

Some of the carcasses were buried immediately, while others which it could not be proved were born after Aug 1, 1996 were taken for rendering.

The Army was reported to be angry at the delay after it claimed MAFF had given it permission to bury the carcasses at the weekend.

A Ministry of Agriculture spokeswoman played down fears of a rift between MAFF and the Department of Health.

MAFF and the Department of Health have just been finalising details, she said, claiming the key issue was ensuring only eligible cattle were buried.