§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the progress of the cattle cohort cull, indicating(a) his original estimate of the number of animals to be slaughtered, (b) the number slaughtered to date and (c) the number remaining to be slaughtered; and if all of (c) have been identified. [51927]
§ Mr. RookerWith regard to the estimate of the total number of animals to be slaughtered under the cull, I refer the right hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for High Peak (Mr. Levitt) on 19 March 1998,Official Report, columns 727–28, when a forecast of 80,000 to 85,000 animals was provided.
The selective cull is progressing very well, with well over 74,000 animals slaughtered in the UK. The cull of animals in Northern Ireland is already complete.
The number of animals which will ultimately be slaughtered under the cull depends on a variety of factors, including: the proportion of animals in the voluntary cohort year which are offered up for slaughter, and the number of animals sold out of their original herd which, when traced, are found to be already dead. Accordingly, while it is difficult to estimate the number of animals still to be slaughtered under the cull, it will be considerably less than the remaining 12,000 animals identified as being eligible for slaughter.