A farmer who left dead cattle to fester has been fined for breaching laws designed to curb mad cow disease.
David Gow left four dead cows “at varying states of decomposition” at his farming company, A.H. Cornish (Appleton) Ltd, near Abingdon in Oxfordshire.
He admitted “not properly disposing of fallen stock without undue delay” amid fears the blunder could have sparked a serious disease outbreak.
The law was brought in after an outbreak of the fatal brain condition BSE – known as mad cow disease – in the late 1990s.
A 10-year ban on British beef exports was introduced by the European Union to tackle the crisis.
Gow was fined £2,250 and ordered to pay £2,250 costs, while the company was fined £800 and ordered to pay £2,104.88 costs.
Tests were carried out on the animals but “it was not possible to establish the exact length of time since they died”, according to environmental health officials.
Oxfordshire County Council investigating officer Richard Healy said: “Protecting Oxfordshire from animal disease outbreaks protects us all and allows for a thriving rural economy.
“This case should be noted by those who seek to sidestep the regulations and jeopardise the integrity of the chain from farm to fork.
“Businesses who do not follow the rules can gain an unfair commercial advantage over the vast majority of businesses that trade lawfully.”
Gow admitted one offence under the Animal By-Products Regulations 2013 and four offences under The Cattle Identification Regulations 2007.
He did ‘not properly disposing of fallen stock without undue delay’ and failed ‘to appropriately manage the important traceability aspects of livestock management’.
Since you are here
Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.
Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.
Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.
If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.
To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.
The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.
The shop can be found here.
You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .
