asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) when his Department received the report which claimed that sheep found to be dead on arrival at Zeebrugge from Felixstowe on 26th March 1976 had dies of asphyxiation; and where this report originated from;(2) when his Department realised that the report, concerning the fate of sheep found to be dead on arrival at Zeebrugge from Felixstowe on 26th March 1976, was unsubstantiated; and when action was taken to check the veracity of this report.
The death of these sheep was reported to my Department by telephone on 26th March by the exporter concerned. The circumstances as reported strongly suggested that the sheep had been asphyxiated. Inquiries were immediately put in hand to establish more positively the cause of the deaths, and although these inquiries proved inconclusive, there is no reason to suggest that the first reports were incorrect.