Dutch Cows Breach Bluetongue Rules
NETHERLANDS - The two in-calf Dutch cows which had been left stranded at Stranraer after breaching European bluetongue rules, are to be sent back to the Netherlands ‘as a matter of urgency’.A shipment of six Dutch dairy heifers had been legally carried across Scotland en route to the Republic of Ireland. However, it was discovered at the port of Larne, in Northern Ireland, that two of the animals had been pregnant before being vaccinated against bluetongue.
This breached European rules on movements between Europe’s BTV8 zone, which includes the Netherlands, and a BTV-free zone like Ireland.
Source: FarmersGuardian