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148 
RHA men deny spreading disease
Page 32
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• Dirty lorries are the major cause in the spread of swine vesicular disease which has led to the slaughter of more than 30,000 pigs in 69 outbreaks this year. This is the finding of the Ministry of Agriculture which has begun a nationwide drive to ensure that all vehicles used for pig transport are thoroughly disinfected between loads.
The Ministry says that unless this procedure is carried out the virus will survive and be passed on to the next load of animals to be transported. Regional managers of the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service have been asked by their Ministry to help in checking arrangements for vehicles disinfection. All England and Wales is now a controlled area for pig movement.
Mr F. G. Garrood, chairman of the RHA's livestock carriers' group and himself a livestock haulier in the East Midlands area, denied the Ministry's allegations in respect of RHA members but pointed out that others might very well be carrying the disease because they were not bound by the Carting of Animals Order 1931: This regulation lays down that anyone carting another person's animals must disinfect the vehicle when the animals have been unloaded.
The RHA man pointed out that a pig farmer carrying his own animals was not required to comply with the order.
When asked about the moral obligation of such a person, Mr Garrood explained that it was not uncommon to be delayed for up to three hours at a market while queueing for washing facilities. The Newark Market, he said, has power hoses which discharge a mixture of water and disinfectant and is paid for by the haulier through a slot meter.
Last week, after he had waited for three hours and left at 5.15 pm, there was still a queue of hauliers waiting to wash.
"Because of the regulation and the inadequate facilities at most markets," he said, "it is playing havoc with our drivers' hours, even though we have the facility of a 14-hour spreadover."