Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) beef cows and (b) dairy cows were compulsorily slaughtered because of bovine tuberculosis in (i) Great Britain, (ii) England, (iii) Wales and (iv) each county in each year since 1997; and how many have been slaughtered in 2007.
Answer
The number of cattle, broken down by beef and dairy cows, slaughtered under bovine TB measures in each county of Great Britain, over the time period requested, is not routinely available and can be provided only at disproportionate cost. I have arranged for details of the total number of cattle slaughtered under bovine TB measures in each county, from 1997 to 2006, along with provisional data for January 2007, to be placed in the Library of the House.1998 to 2005 data is also available on the DEFRA website at:"http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/stats/county.htm"