MADRID, Spain (Reuters) — The Spanish government will provide $14 million (US) to help pay for cattle to be slaughtered as the country tackles mad cow disease.
Analysts have said that Spain’s incinerators are struggling to cope with the number of cattle being slaughtered and carcasses have been found dumped in various parts of Spain.
The new funds will be spent in the first half of the year, during which Spain plans to slaughter 180,000 cattle.
“With these measures, the agriculture ministry will finance 33 percent of the cost of measures taken to stem and eradicate the disease,” a statement from the ministry said.
The government recently announced that livestock, including prized fighting bulls, may have been given animal-based feed long after it was banned under European Union rules to stem mad cow disease.
