DEFRA statement on the outcome of the Bobby Waugh case
006/02
30 May 2002
DEFRA welcomes today's guilty verdict in the prosecution brought by Northumberland County Council against Bobby Waugh.
Trading Standards officials, together with vets from the Department, backed by specialists from the World Reference Laboratory for Foot and Mouth Disease at Pirbright, Surrey, carried out extensive investigations on Mr Waugh's farm at Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumberland, starting in February last year.
The charges faced by Mr Waugh included failure to notify the disease; animal welfare offences relating to failure to have the disease treated; and feeding unprocessed swill feed.
The guilty verdicts that have been reached demonstrate how seriously these matters are regarded, and the judge has accepted the prosecution's view that:
i. Mr Waugh should have notified DEFRA of a notifiable disease in his
pigs much earlier;
ii. By failing to have sick pigs treated he caused them unnecessary suffering;
iii He should not have fed unprocessed swill to his animals;
iv He should not have left part of a pig lying around his premises;
DEFRA has since banned the practice of feeding swill to pigs in the UK, and has set up a range of measures to clamp down on the illegal import of uncooked meats. Biosecurity measures have also been introduced on farms to prevent the spread of diseases.
Ends
Page published: 30 May 2002