asked Her Majesty's Government:

Further to the Written Answer by Lord Rooker on 20 May (WA 113), if the risk of transmission of BSE from sheep is near zero and scrapie is non-transmissible to humans, why it is necessary to bury sheep carcasses when any residual prions are more likely to be widely dispersed into the ground by live sheep when lambing. [HL3941]

Sheep carcasses must be disposed of in accordance with the animal by-products regulations. These require either direct incineration or rendering followed by incineration or landfill.

Lambing can be a source of environmental contamination, as infectivity has been detected in the foetal membranes. However, farmers are obliged under the animal by-products regulations to collect these membranes and dispose of them as category 2 animal by-products in order to reduce the risks presented by transmissible spongiform encephalopathies and other animal diseases. Burial is not a permitted disposal route for this material.