Welsh dairy farmers charged £384,475 for fraudulent TB eartag swapping

Three Pembrokeshire dairy farmers have been charged £384,475 for fraudulently swapping the eartags of healthy cattle with those infected with bovine TB.

On Monday (4 March), Swansea Crown Court heard that family farmers Charles (76), Henry (64) and Edward (47) Hartt pleaded guilty to 12 offences under the Cattle Identification (Wales) Regulations 2007.

This included eight offences of applying eartags that did not relate to the correct cattle – including swapping eartags of healthy and infected cattle – and four offences of providing false information relating to the herd.