Army to assist with slaughter

Sheep are piled onto a burning pit in the Dumfries area

The Army is to be brought in to Dumfries and Galloway to help with the pre-emptive cull of up to 200,000 sheep.

First Minister Henry McLeish told MSPs in the Scottish Parliament that the Ministry of Defence had agreed to a request for assistance in the area.

Army personnel will offer logistical support, by helping to organise the slaughter.

A press conference will take place in the council headquarters on Friday to detail the army's role in the cull.

Meanwhile, the pre-emptive cull got under way at a farm at Dornock, near Annan, on Thursday.

Confirmed farms in Scotland include

66 cases on 22 March

Lockerbie (12 cases)

Canonbie (11)

Gretna (11)

Lochmaben(3)

Twynholm

Langholm

Beattock(3)

Corrie

Ruthwell(5)

Tundergarth

Moffat

Dalton(2)

Torthorward

Mouswald(2)

Hightae

Kirtlebridge(2)

Creca

Collin

Kirkpatrick Fleming

Five other farms in the area are expected to see their stock slaughtered.

The move had been delayed by efforts to clear a backlog of confirmed foot-and-mouth cases in Dumfries and Galloway.

A spokeswoman for Dumfries and Galloway Council said the carcasses would be taken to a rendering plant for disposal.

She said: "The process of taking out apparently healthy animals has started this morning.

"The animals are being taken to a slaughterhouse which is owned by the farm and only half a mile away.

"A slaughterhouse is being used because the livestock are not infected and can be moved without any restrictions."

The cull - which will see the slaughter of up to 200,000 sheep - had been scheduled to begin on Wednesday, but officials said they were struggling to slaughter animals known to be infected with the virus.

Under plans announced by ministers, every farm within 3km of a confirmed case will have its flocks destroyed - regardless of how healthy they appear.

Ten slaughter teams - made up of vets, valuers and slaughterers - are being set up to go round.

Preventative measures

With up to 500 farms involved, it is expected that this process will take several weeks.

Dumfries and Galloway is so far the only region in Scotland with confirmed cases of foot-and-mouth outbreak.

However, sheep in the Highlands and the Borders have already been slaughtered under the preventative measures.

National Farmers Union Scotland president Jim Walker has said that the Army could be called in to speed up the slaughter in Scotland.

Slaughter teams have been formed

He was in Westminster on Thursday to urge that action be speeded up to ensure that the disease does not get a stronger grip in Scotland.

During a meeting in Downing Street with the Prime Minister and agriculture minister Nick Brown, farmers' leaders won extra money for those whose livestock is being slaughtered.

They said they had secured significantly higher rates for those animals being killed on welfare grounds.

Mr Brown said the new rates would be announced shortly.

Meanwhile, five new cases of the disease were confirmed in Dumfries and Galloway on Thursday, taking the tally to 66.