Disposal of mortalities is an issue that every livestock operation must deal with. Besides disease, a variety of factors associated with production methods determine mortality rates in individual operations (117).

Improper storage and/or disposal of carcasses is not an infrequent sight in Manitoba (personal observation). On- site burial of stock may lead to contamination of wells (105). Occasionally, outbreaks of illness among herds or barn fires necessitate the disposal of large numbers of animals. These may end up buried on site, or in local landfills (e.g. Miami, Manitoba).

Dead stock present a number of hazards. Flies may disseminate pathogens (see above). Nitrogen and dissolved organic matter may lead to contamination of surface and/or groundwater (105). It has also been pointed out (105) that veterinary drugs in carcasses may present risks for the environment and may subsequently affect other livestock if the material is processed into feed.
Rendering provides a way of recycling some nutrients into fertilizer and feed. However the process does result in some emissions (105). Unfortunately, there is a significant potential for distribution of certain pathogens such as prions (see above) when carcasses of infected animals are reprocessed into "cannibal feed". The BSE outbreak in Britain (see above) was the direct result of this practice. Salmonella hazard in chickens and eggs is another example.

Rendering may be instrumental in recycling toxic materials into feed. An example is the 1999 case of a Beausejour area dairy farmer who sprayed his cows with Diquat and insecticide to ward off flies. The cows that died as a direct result were passed on to the Rothesay rendering plant, which did not ask any questions about why the cows died. Despite a later investigation (when the media learned of the story), it is still unclear (or undisclosed) whether the cows actually did get processed. They normally would have been, but the plant claimed by coincidence they had an equipment breakdown that particular day and sent the cows to the landfill. The cows with the appropriate ear tags, however, could not be located at the landfill, despite an intensive search. The Agriculture Department could have handled the problem a little more responsibly.

Recommendations

$ Improper storage and disposal of mortalities should carry much more severe fines.

$ More stringent regulations and monitoring should be introduced regarding the carcasses processed for feed by rendering plants, specifically to limit the potential for spreading disease and recycling toxic materials.

$ Farmers and agriculture officials should be educated with respect to safety concerns relating to animal carcasses, and disposal of poisoned animals.

$ farmers and agriculture officials (particularly older generation staff) should be educated and updated on the health risks and current understanding of environmental effects of pesticides. Some AgReps continue to push chemical solutions under the conviction that they are "totally harmless" and are not favorably disposed towards more benign alternatives.