Dumped rubbish poisoning cattle (From Western Telegraph)

Dumped rubbish poisoning cattle

Carelessly discarded rubbish containing lead is poisoning cattle on Pembrokeshire farms. Calves are most likely to fall victim to lead poisoning with numbers peaking after turnout.

The National Animal Disease Information Service, a network of veterinary practices and colleges monitoring diseases in British livestock, regards it as the most common cause of cattle poisoning.

NADIS vet Mike Howe, based in Pembrokeshire, said in most cases the source of lead was rubbish - like sump oil, lead batteries, putty and old paint tins. Cattle actively eat these products as they are attracted to the taste, he explained. Water sourced from lead pipes was also suggested as a possible contaminant.

Vets monitoring the disease for NADIS, an organisation sponsored by the Milk Development Council, Meat and Livestock Commission, Elanco Animal Health and Intervet, recommend that suspected cases should be examined by the farmer's own vet. In a recent NADIS report by Richard Laven, manager of the Scottish Agricultural College's surveillance centre, further tests were advised to measure levels of blood and tissue lead to differentiate from other causes. Early treatment in less severely affected animals was essential, he suggested.

In the vast majority of cases lead poisoning could be avoided by good waste management on farms. Rubbish should be kept out of pastures and other sites that are used by animals. Used motor oil should be placed in sealed containers and used vehicle batteries carefully disposed of.

Ideally, all lead paint should be removed but if this was not feasible, livestock must be prevented from accessing painted areas, said Mike Howe.

"Check all areas carefully before introducing animals to them as most poisonings occur following a change of location,'' he said. "Lead poisoning cases usually increase after spring turnout when livestock find all the junk discarded over the winter.''