12 MAY 2016

ICSA rural development chairman Seamus Sherlock has urged farmers to be aware of the fatal consequences of livestock coming into contact with old and disused batteries. “Every farmer deals with the task of replacing batteries in their motorised vehicles on the farm but many are still unaware of how dangerous batteries are if animals come into contact with them.”

Every year in Ireland many animals die from fatal lead toxicity usually in the months from April to November as this coincides with cattle out grazing the land.

 Mr Sherlock said “I would urge farmers to treat batteries with care and remove off them the farm as quickly as possible to reduce the risk to animals. There are facilities available in every county for such batteries to be recycled. Mr Sherlock said farmers lose many animals to diseases yearly and the last thing any farmer needs is the loss of valuable animals unnecessarily due to the coming into contact with old batteries.”

ENDS