Additional free-to-farmer carcase collection service in North East England
APHA has signed a new contract with Meraxian Limited who will provide a free carcase collection service for farmers who wish to use post mortem examination (PME) services at APHA’s Veterinary Investigation Centre (VIC) at Thirsk.
APHA has recently extended its ‘free-to-farmer’ carcase collection service across England, but until now, it didn’t apply to farmers located more than an hour’s drive south of Thirsk VIC due to a lack of provider. To the north of Thirsk, the free carcase collection service has been available for some time.
The free carcase collection service is for use when a farmer’s veterinarian has agreed with APHA or one of its partner PME providers that a post mortem examination is of benefit for disease surveillance purposes – it is not provided for the purposes of general carcase disposal.
PME services are provided by a mixture of APHA’s own VICs (Thirsk, Penrith, Shrewsbury, Bury St Edmunds, Starcross and Carmarthen) and a number of non-APHA partners – the University of Bristol, the Royal Veterinary College, the University of Surrey, the Scottish Agricultural College (covering Northumberland) and in Wales, the Wales Veterinary Science Centre (Aberystwyth). APHA Lasswade also provides poultry PME and disease investigation services.
If submission of a carcase for PME is agreed, and the farm is in the free collection area, the relevant PME provider will initiate the collection service with the haulier, who will liaise directly with the farmer to arrange collection of the carcase. Farmers who are within an hour’s drive of the post mortem facility will need to deliver carcases by their own means.
Vets are encouraged to contact APHA VICs, or APHA’s partner PME providers, to discuss cases and options for diagnostic investigation. APHA is continuing to provide a subsidy for PME of carcases that are of surveillance. Post-mortem charges and more about the service are available on the surveillance pages.
Contact details for APHA VICs and non-APHA post mortem providers are available on GOV.UK. Or to find your nearest PME facility use our pme postcode search tool and maps.
Published: 6 March 2017