Fallen stock and safe disposal of dead animals
How to safely and legally dispose of dead farm animals and horses.
As a farmer, you’re responsible for the safe and legal collection disposal of your fallen stock (dead livestock).
You can make your own arrangements for your fallen stock to be disposed of at an approved premises, or you can use the National Fallen Stock Company (NFSCo).
Fallen stock
If livestock dies on your farm, it must be collected, identified and transported from your farm without ‘undue delay’. This means as soon as is reasonably practical under the circumstances.
You must not:
- burn or bury fallen stock on your farm
- feed fallen stock to red kites or necrophagous birds (birds that feed on carcasses)
You must arrange for the animal to be collected by an approved transporter and taken for disposal to one of the following:
- knacker
- hunt kennel
- maggot farm
- incinerator
- renderer
The same applies to stillborn animals and afterbirth.
While waiting for your fallen stock to be collected, you must ensure that animals and birds can not access the carcass.
Bins can be used a temporary store for fallen stock, especially during times of high mortality. Your bins must be kept clean and disinfected, must have lids and be leakproof.
You can choose to use NFSCo to collect and dispose of your fallen stock. This is a not for profit, industry-led community interest company offering a collection service for farmers and horse owners.
Contact NFSCo on: 01335 320014.
If you want to make your own arrangements, you should use approved premises for animal by-product operating plants.
You’re responsible for covering the costs of collection and disposal.
Animal by-products
Animal by-products (ABPs) must be transported in covered leakproof containers / vehicles and be accompanied by a commercial document.
Find out more about how to dispose of ABPs.
Incinerator plants that only burn animal carcasses or unprocessed parts of carcasses must be approved by the Animal and Plant Health Agency. Find out how to get approval for an incineration site and .
BSE testing of fallen cattle
If your cattle are to be tested for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), you must contact a collector within 24 hours of the death of the animal to arrange for the animal to be taken to an approved sampling site within 72 hours of the death. Find out when you must send dead cattle for BSE testing.
If BSE testing is not required then the carcass may be disposed of as fallen stock.
Ban on burying or burning fallen stock
The burial or burning of fallen stock in the open is banned to prevent the risk of spreading disease from residues in the soil, groundwater or air pollution.
This ban includes afterbirth and stillborn animals.
In the UK, the exemptions to this ban include:
- the burial of dead pet animals and horses (authorisation C2)
- remote areas – Isles of Scilly, Lundy Island and Coquet Island (authorisation C3)
- natural disaster (authorisation C4)
Burning and burial of ABPs must be authorised by the competent authority and carried out in line with the ABP regulations.
Pet animals
You are allowed to bury pet animals.
A pet animal is defined in the regulations as ‘any animal belonging to a species normally nourished and kept, but not consumed, by humans for purposes other than farming’.
This does not apply to farm animals such as sheep, cattle, pigs, goats and poultry.
Farm animals must be disposed of using an approved disposal method for fallen stock.
Horses
In Scotland and Wales, only pet horses can be buried.
In England, you’re allowed to bury horses whether they are pets or not.
For further information, contact your local trading standards office and the Environment Agency.
You can also use NFSCo to collect your horse.
Wild animals
The carcasses of wild animals, other than wild game, are exempt from the animal by-product rules in the UK.
However, if it’s suspected that the animals were infected with a disease which can spread to people or animals, they must be disposed of as a category 1 ABP.
Fly-tipping
If a carcass is dumped on your land then, wherever possible, the owner of the animal will be responsible for its disposal.
If the owner cannot be identified then you will be expected to arrange for the disposal of the animal using an approved disposal method.
Updates to this page
Last updated 5 August 2022 + show all updates
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Added Coquet Island as a remote area exempt to the ban on burying or burning of fallen stock (authorisation C3).
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Isle of Wight no longer classified as a remote area and therefore removed from the section on exemptions to the ban on burying/banning fallen stock
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Removed links to archive site
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First published.