Campaign to save city farm's cow and Strictly bull fails as pair are slaughtered

 
Dance-off: Strictly bull Lloyd with Nancy Dell'Olio
Robin de Peyer17 December 2013

A cow and a bull have been taken to slaughter from a city farm which could not afford to keep them.

Sussex-cross pair Leila and Lloyd were earmarked for the chop after Stepney City Farm said it could no longer afford their £2,000 per year upkeep.

Leila and Lloyd – who appeared with Nancy Dell’Ollio and Anton Du Beke in a Strictly Come Dancing sketch in 2011 – did not have ID documents, meaning they could not be transported away from the farm.

The cattle had been offered an alternative home in Norfolk, with Tower Hamlets council, Poplar and Limehouse MP Jim Fitzpatrick and the farm itself all appealing to the government to relax its guidelines on the transport of unidentified livestock.

But despite more than 10,000 people signing a petition calling on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to make an exception, the cows were not allowed to be transported and the slaughter went ahead this weekend.

In a statement, farm managers said: “We appreciate it is inevitable that some people will seek to criticise the farm, but would ask them to respect the fact that it is us who looked after the animals on a daily basis and who have worked so hard to allow them to be moved, who will be most affected by the decision.

“Whilst we must take these difficult decisions and address and educate about the process of food production, it is a very sad day at the farm.”

The guidelines were introduced to prevent diseases such as TB and BSE spreading.

A Defra spokesperson said: "In order to ensure food safety and prevent the spread of animal diseases, cattle which can’t be identified can’t be moved."

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