Bid to rid city of poisonous plant praised

Several members of the public helped Rory McLure, who is the council's Project Greenspace officer, to clear Aconbury Orchard near the city's Newtown Hospital.

The weed is poisonous to horses, cattle, deer, sheep, pigs, goats, dogs and humans.

"We applaud the efforts of the British Horse Society, which has sponsored a Ragwort Control Act which became law on February 20," said Mr McClure.

"We hope the publicity will encourage landowners to make sure that their land is free of ragwort.

"It is easier to clear the weed in spring and autumn and we hope that our clearance days will highlight the new law."

The weed contains the toxic properties of several pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Even small amounts of ragwort ingested by horses will cause damage to their liver. Clinical signs only show once the liver is 75 per cent destroyed, by which stage the damage is irreversible.

"We have planned another clearance day on July 17 at Aconbury Orchard and want as many people as possible to come and help us," said Mr McClure. "But it is important that everyone wears protective gloves because even the dried stems remain poisonous and must be removed."

At the recent clearance morning, Worcester resident Arthur Rowe demonstrated a new tool called the Lazy Dog - which proves you do not need chemicals to remove ragwort.

Landowners are being forced to control the spread of the equine killer weed ragwort under tough new government measures and Defra officials are to be allowed to issue on-the-spot enforcement notices to landowners.

If the landowner does not comply and clear the weeds himself, Defra officials have been given the power to call in a private contractor to do the job for him.

Bless you for helping us end this cruel trade

READERS of Country News have been thanked for their efforts to stop the live export of horses and ponies for slaughter.

Hundreds of people from Herefordshire and Worcestershire have put their weight behind the "Say no to Live Exports Campaign" launched by the International League for the Protection of Horses.

The on-line petition and dedicated phone line has been boosted by 86,000 signatures - 40,000 since Christmas - and hundreds of those have come from the two counties.

Now, after months of lobbying by horse lovers and the ILPH, the Government may be forced to include an "opt out" for British horses and ponies.

The European Parliament in Strasbourg has agreed amendments put forward by UK MEPs in consultation with the ILPH, which, if adopted by the Council of Agricultural Ministers and the European Commission, will allow the UK to prevent the export of live horses for slaughter.

The ILPH feared European Commission plans, due to come into force in July, would mean that British horses would be taken live on a distressing journey to their death.

"Hundreds of your readers have given us their full support," said Linda Freebrey, press officer for the ILPH.

"The support we have had over this issue has been fantastic. Our petition has topped 86,000 signatures and it is not too late for anyone else to add their name to the list. I want to say a huge thank you."

Eight months ago, the EC published its new draft regulations concerning the EU Animal Transportation Directive. This new piece of draft legislation has nothing written into it to allow for the UK Minimum Values Legislation which is designed to stop low value horses and ponies being transported to Europe and has protected British horses and ponies for 30 years. The ILPH feared that it might no longer be legally recognised by the EU.

"This would lead to our horses and ponies once again being at risk from entering the slaughter horse traffic".

"The league feels that the current British equine passport legislation, due to come into force in June this year, could make the situation worse. The equine abattoirs who take between 10 and 12,000 horses and ponies annually, say that because of the way that the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs has put the legislation together, they will close down operations by the July 2004 deadline.

Where will those horses and ponies go if UK Minimum Values legislation isn't put on a sound footing in Europe? The answer is too horrible to think about so we must act now to stop it happening."

Last month's debate in the Commons led to heated exchanges between Alun Michael, Government Minister of the Horse, and James Gray, Shadow Minister for Agriculture, who was answering the debate tabled by Gregory Barker, MP for Bexhill and Battle.

In the debate, Alun Michael said that Ministers would be looking at European Parliament report very carefully and would seek the views of the EC. This means the Government is now saying it will look at the possibility of an opt-out.

Jo White, campaigns manager for the ILPH, said: "Up to now, the Government has refused to comment on how they believe British horses and ponies will be protected from export for slaughter, choosing only to comment on the details associated with the proposed improvements to the welfare of horses during transport.

"Following the fantastic news that an amendment was voted through at this week's plenary session of the European Parliament which could provide Britain with the means to have an opt-out for our horses from live export for slaughter, we are hoping the Government will seize the opportunity and press for the inclusion of such a proposal in the final regulation which is due to be examined by the Council of Agricultural Ministers at the end of this month."

Since its foundation more than 75 years ago, the ILPH has been campaigning to stop the export of horses abroad for slaughter for human consumption.

A decade later, in 1937, the Exportation of Horses Act, which established the principle of Minimum Values, received Royal Assent. This Act was drafted by Sir George Cockerill MP, who was at that time the Director of the ILPH. But it wasn't until the end of the 1960s that Minimum Values legislation was finally put onto the statute books.

The legislation stops low value horses and ponies from being exported from the UK to mainland Europe. If their value is under the 'minimum value', which is regularly reviewed and is set above the meat value for horses and ponies of different heights, then they will not be granted an export licence.

This piece of legislation has effectively stopped the export of all equines for slaughter from Britain by making the trade uneconomic, and has saved thousands of horses and ponies from jounrye to an abbatoir on the continent.