INDIVIDUALS in the farming industry who have ignored Bluetongue warnings and continue to bring live animals into Northern Ireland "must re-think their actions'', a farmers' leader has said.
Ulster Farmers' Union president, Kenneth Sharkey, said latest figures showed a significant number of cattle and sheep were still being brought into Northern Ireland in spite of repeated warnings that this "constitutes a potential Bluetongue risk to t
he industry''.
Mr Sharkey said: "The latest figures for live animal imports are very worrying. Week in and week out hundreds of cattle and sheep continue to be brought into Northern Ireland and this is placing our entire livestock sector at an unnecessary risk.
"A Bluetongue outbreak would threaten the livelihoods of farming families in the livestock sector and we are calling on farmers who are bringing livestock in to Northern Ireland to think again about the potential consequences that they could bring on the entire industry.
"Meat processors must also look again at the practice of bringing animals in direct for slaughter.
"As we approach the summer months, the risk of Bluetongue spread is increasing and not bringing in live animals continues to be one of the most obvious ways to protect ourselves from the disease.''
The UFU said that, in the first week in April, 367 cattle and 869 sheep were imported to Northern Ireland farms; 636 cattle and 4,104 sheep were brought into Northern Ireland for slaughter.
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