Just to prove it can be done I can now collect "Animal By-Products" ie tripe etc straight from the abattoir to feed to my dogs.  I applied in December, had a few visits from the Defra vet and now at last have the bit of paper which means I can start using fresh tripe again :D

Congratulations Christine, its nice when common sense prevails over beaurocracy and red tape once in a while.

Oh, there's lot of paperwork and red tape and various equipment dedicated to collecting, cutting up and storing the stuff!

Good news. Do you have to do the sampling for salmonella and ecoli etc as well.  I get whole tripe (as well as minced) from my supplier and they have to send weekly sampling to approved labs.

No, I don't have to do any testing as I am an end use rather than a supplier

Congrats Kerioak, out of interest what regulations do you have to follow as an end user. I am tied up with so many regulations and they have changed yet again I am seriously thinking of just buying tripe for myself and not pricessing and supplying anymore. It seems every month they think of new things to change.

Hi

If you process it you will probably find just being an end user a doddle.

I cannot bring any tripe etc into a domestic dwelling.  An outside freezer and cutting up area (inside but not in the house).  Dedicated knives and containers for collecting it from abattoir - must be marked as not fit for human consumption.  Disposal service, if, for instance my freezer failed - can only go to a specialist place I cannot pass it onto friends dogs.  Specific disinfectants for cleaning out containers (that kill foot and mouth, fowl pest and all known diseases!).  Because I have poultry I have to keep tripe etc and poultry well apart.

Paperwork must be kept in a special file for examination at any time.

We had a dodgy moment as I have a fridge I use for defrosting and chilling dog food and my domestic freezer in the same out-building - I have to come indoors and wash before I can go from one to the other.

There were lots of other bits but these were the main ones.

The ridiculous thing is that if I buy tripe from somewhere like AMP I could take it indoors or fling it all around the garden for the foxes and there is nothing that could be done about it !

I picked up my first load this morning and pups and adults much appreciated it :)

Gosh Kerioak I didn't realise that your regulations are so strict. I thought mine were bad enough. I have had to change all my labeling as the wording has been changed yet again. That is the second time this year. I was going to have my own boxes printed but I am glad I didn't now. And there is no guarantee that the EU will accept Defra's change in the regulations when they meet in July so we could still be out of business in a few months time. I know of several businesses that have just given up because of this.

Blimey! We breed beef cows and I thought the regs were bad enough at our end. :(  Flippin' DEFRA, every form they send to fill in has to have a thick booklet explaining the changes and how to fill it in and when you finally get your head round it they go and change it all again. We  got all our ear tags bought then they changed the numbering system. They sent us hundreds of sticky labels with our name, address and barcode on and have now changed all that and told us to dump them. I've just spent ages cutting the barcode off so at least we've got some useful address labels, I certainly wasn't going to waste them! :D

They are supposed to inform us when the Tuberculosis and Brucella Test are due but "forgot" this time then sent a snooty letter threatening to slap a movement ban on us if we didn't get it done within the month!  All done and OK now but we had to postpone letting the cows out for an extra week. :(  There just seems to be tight control on every part of the whole business these days. There's even tight controls on muck spreading now, they'll be wanting nappies on the cows next!! :D

Kath.

Regarding nappies on cows:

These must  be disposed of safely but not in any public or private place, nor can they be burnt, buried or dissolved with acid.  They must be emptied before disposal but nothing must be removed from them.  They must be thoroughly sanitised before disposal.

~~

MMMMmmmmmm ...
My dogs have just volunteered to recycle them for you :D

:D :D  @ you two.

Wouldn't surprise me at all Christine! :D

Kath.