Army outlines plan for slaughter

Soldiers will not be involved in killing animals

Disused airfields have been earmarked for the slaughter and disposal of animals in the mass cull aimed at containing foot-and-mouth disease in Cumbria.

Brigadier Alex Birtwistle, who is in charge of the Army unit assisting the operation, said sites had been identified around the county for the mass slaughter.

Up to 300,000 live animals and thousands more carcasses are expected to be transported from farms in "cull zones" to the sites, which are most likely to be set up on disused airfields, he said.

This is a disease that has devastated this community and we must get on and sort it out

Brigadier Alex Birtwistle

The spread of the disease is continuing to escalate, with 514 cases now confirmed in the UK.

Currently 80 Army personnel are assigned to the task of organising the operation in Cumbria, which will draw on the skills of local farmers, contractors and slaughtermen.

They will not get involved in the actual killing of the animals, which will be done by licensed slaughtermen.

Brigadier Birtwistle, of 42 North-West Brigade, told Channel 4 News: "Because of the scale of the problem, what we are contingency-planning for now is to establish a series of sites to which we will take the live animals and they will be slaughtered and disposed of there.

Experimenting

"This will allow us to deal with them more quickly.

"We have established three airfields for which we have got environmental clearance, but there are other factors we still have to look at. We are going for as many sites as we can."

Specially-adapted vehicles are to be used to ensure that foot-and-mouth is not spread during the journeys from farm to slaughter site.

An agricultural expert checks lambs for signs of the disease

He said: "They will move within the infected areas. Those that are infected will go in spill-free vehicles and we are experimenting... on creating more vehicles quickly by the use of polythene and liners that will keep the area safe."

The use of landfill sites to bury the animals in mass graves is being considered as a speedier alternative to incineration, but sensitive environmental considerations have to be taken into account, he said.

Where possible, local contractors will be used to carry out necessary work, in order to pump money back into the community.

Local farmers and National Farmers' Union officials were assisting in drawing up the plans, he added.

"What we have got to do now is look forward and see what we can do for the future to bring prosperity back here," said Brigadier Birtwistle.

"This is a disease that has devastated this community and we must get on and sort it out."

The army took an active role in helping contain the 1967 outbreak of foot-and-mouth.

Tory leader William Hague has called for soldiers to be used in a "much more whole-hearted way" to fight the disease.