An animal that dies in a livestock trailer creates a problem that nobody on the road is well placed to solve, and the questions that follow are about responsibility as much as disposal. Martlands provides licensed fallen stock and ABP collection to farms, hauliers and market operators across the North West, and livestock transport fallen stock collection is a small but genuinely awkward part of the workload. The awkwardness comes from the fact that the animal is usually not on the holding it came from, and often not on any holding at all.
Where Responsibility Sits
The starting point is that fallen stock has to be collected by a licensed operator and taken to an approved processing route, and that duty attaches to whoever has the animal. In practice that means the position depends on where the death is discovered. An animal found dead on loading is still the keeper’s, and the keeper’s twenty-four hour duty under the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013 applies as it would to any other death on the holding. An animal that dies in transit and is discovered at the destination is a different matter, and the arrangement between the parties usually determines who books and pays for the collection.
What is never acceptable is for the animal to be left with whoever happens to be nearest at the point the problem is discovered, without a decision about who is arranging removal. That is how carcasses end up sitting in a yard for two days while a conversation goes back and forth. Agree the position in advance with your haulier or your buyer, in writing if the movements are regular, so the question is settled before anyone needs the answer.
The Categorisation Is Not Affected by Where the Animal Died
Farmed ruminants, pigs and other livestock that die other than by slaughter for human consumption are Category 1 material regardless of whether the death happened in a field, a shed or a lorry. Our Category 1 ABP collection handles these under Animal By-Products Licence No APB/CCN21/373/8002 with Waste Carrier Licence CB/QE5406MT and Site Licence EAWML/100236, and the Commercial Document issued names the collection point, which is what allows a haulier or a market to evidence that the material left their premises lawfully.
Fallen cattle over forty-eight months still require BSE testing, and that does not change because the animal died in transit. As a DEFRA approved processing and sampling facility we handle the sampling within our own operation, which avoids a second handover at exactly the point in the chain where records are most likely to go missing.
Vehicles, Cleansing and the Next Load
The practical consequence for a haulier is that the vehicle needs cleansing and disinfecting before it carries live animals again, and that requirement is generally more demanding than the routine one. Contaminated bedding and washings from that process are not household waste and should be handled and recorded accordingly. Where a transport operator handles this regularly, having a standing arrangement with a licensed collector for both the carcass and any contaminated material is considerably simpler than sourcing it in a crisis.
The general principles that govern moving animal by-products, including containment, leak-proof handling and the documentation that must travel with the material, are set out in our guide to transporting animal by-products. Hauliers who have thought about this in advance tend to have a far less stressful afternoon than those who have not.
Markets and Collection Centres
Auction marts and collection centres see this more often than anybody, simply because volume through the ring makes occasional casualties inevitable, and because animals arriving from multiple holdings on the same morning include some that were marginal before they were loaded. Market operators generally have arrangements in place, but the record-keeping expectation on a market is high and the paperwork needs to show which holding the animal came from as well as where it went. Our piece on livestock markets and auction marts deals with the sale-day duties in more detail.
Where a casualty animal is unfit to travel further, the welfare decision comes first and the disposal question second. An animal euthanised on welfare grounds at a market or in a lorry park is fallen stock, and it needs a licensed collection like any other.
The Geography of Livestock Movement in the North West
The region’s livestock traffic concentrates around a handful of corridors, and our collection routes reflect that. The M56 and M6 junctions south of the Mersey carry a great deal of movement between the Cheshire dairy country, the Welsh border and the Midlands, and holdings and premises around Chester fallen stock collection sit squarely on that flow.
Further north, the ground around Warrington fallen stock collection is where the motorway network converges, and it is where a haulier stuck with a casualty is most likely to be when they discover it. From Burscough we can reach both areas quickly by road, which is the entire point when a loaded vehicle is standing still.
Setting Something Up in Advance
If you move livestock regularly, whether as a farm, a haulier or a market, the sensible step is to have an arrangement rather than a phone number. We can set up a standing agreement through our farm and fallen stock collection service, with bookings and references managed through the KoLeCt system so every collection is traceable from the first call. Ring 01704 776977 to discuss it, or get in touch through contact us and we will put something practical in place before you need it.
