Newark farming company Germany Farms Ltd has been fined £2,000 for the irresponsible disposal of around 10,000 chicken carcasses on woodland in Nottinghamshire last year.
The court heard that the Norwell-based business buried the broiler chickens on 13th September 2016 against strict regulations on the processing, use and disposal of animal by-products.
Germany Farms pleaded guilty to two offences against the Animal By-Products Regulations 2011, which highlights that these cannot be buried on land unless it is an authorised site and the material has been pressure sterilised. The regulations also require of the disposer to hold documentation for the transport of such by-products, which, according to the hearing, the company also failed to provide.
Nottinghamshire County Council’s Trading Standards team and the Environment Agency attended the burial site, where the carcasses were exhumed and disposed of in a lawful manner.
Trading Standards manager, Nicola Schofield, noted: “This company has been producing poultry for 25 years so should have been fully aware of the requirements to dispose of dead livestock and failed to take steps to address the issue before they were instructed to do so by the County Council.
“The scale of dead carcasses could have led to a massive risk to public health and wildlife so it is important the company receives a fine as punishment for their actions.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
