Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of records relating to cows born in the UK before 1996 that have been lost; and if he will make a statement.
Answer
[holding answer 15 September 2008]: There are 207,461 animals registered onto the Cattle Tracing System (CTS) born before 1996. Of these 20,979 are reported lost or at present not traced for reasons such as alleged theft. In addition to these there are 1,039 animals whose final destination is presently unreported.