Mary Henry (Independent)

The Minister has gone a long way to try to deal with this issue which is a bit nebulous. My concern was that if the price of sheep was low, and someone began to do a caesarean section on them if they were having trouble lambing, calling a vet may cost more than the value of the lamb. How often could this happen on one farm before one would take notice of it? The Minister has gone a long way in trying to cover this aspect. I am not sure how one can deal with the scenario I envisage. When the price of animals is low, calling a vet is a very expensive business. I am thinking about difficulties with lambing in particular. I do not know why sheep are not designed to lamb themselves; humans are much easier. This is the aspect about which I am concerned. What the Minister has included covers the concerns I expressed previously. I am not sure how to deal with the problem, other than to say that people should be vigilant about animal welfare. It is well known that some farmers' animals are always getting into trouble.

I will have to rely on the person from the sheep sanctuary who will be on the council and will keep a special eye on these cases. It is a problem that people are sometimes reluctant to seek help about because of the cost involved. One can understand that because there is a very fine line in terms of profit margins. However, the welfare of animals is very important.