Mr Kindersley said it was time the government realised that its cull was not working, as hundreds of animal carcasses were rotting in fields awaiting incineration or burial. In sheep, the symptoms are mild and difficult to spot. That is why Government vets want to cull animals within two miles of an outbreak. There is now a new stage in slaughter with the opening of the first burial pit. With the silent spread of the virus, the slaughter is so great burning cannot cope.
Burial is in fact the option vets prefer.
When animals die, rigor mortis makes their muscles acid and acidity kills the virus. Spreading lime on the carcasses also kills the virus, so dead sheep cannot contaminate land.