Farmer sought over disease scare pig

All animals should by law have identifiable markings

Animal health experts are still trying to trace the owner of a pig at the centre of a foot-and-mouth scare last week.

So far no one has come forward to claim the pig, which experts say could belong to any one of 34 farms.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is looking for the person responsible and says legal action will follow.

Although it is a legal requirement for animals to be identified, the pig had no markings, making it impossible to tell who its owner is.

Restrictions

Agriculture Minister Elliot Morley told BBC Radio 4's Farming Today he was "appalled" that the traceability system put in place after the foot-and-mouth outbreak - designed to protect against such diseases - could break down.

He questioned whether farmers had learned anything since last year's crisis.

Elliott Morley: "Appalled"

Final tests on the pig at a Leicestershire abattoir earlier this week showed it was not suffering from foot-and-mouth disease.

But the episode led to 34 farms in Yorkshire, a livestock market and the Leicestershire slaughterhouse being shut down, when news of the suspected case came to light.

Vets realised they had no way of finding out where the pig had come from or if it had passed through a livestock market, coming into contact with other animals.

Waugh sentencing

The alarm was raised last Thursday at Dawkins International abattoir in the village of Congerstone, Leicestershire, after the pig showed possible signs of having the virus.

All animal movements were suspended within a five-mile radius of the abattoir - a rural area which included numerous farms and a zoo.

The restrictions were lifted on Monday, after conclusive tests on the pig by the Institute for Animal Health proved negative.

On Friday, pig farmer Bobby Waugh from Sunderland is due to be sentenced after being found guilty of five counts of failing to notify the authorities of a foot-and-mouth outbreak at his pig fattening unit.

The last confirmed case of foot-and-mouth was in September 2001 but there have been numerous false alarms since then.