Hill-country MP calls for vaccination of rare breeds

In the wake of Defra's recently-announced strategy for bluetongue vaccination, Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Hill Farming, has written to the Secretary of State Hilary Benn calling for extra protection for rare breeds of livestock.

The current vaccination plan would see rare breeds in Cumbria, such as Rough Fell and Herdwick sheep, treated the same as other livestock, and have to wait at the back of the queue to receive vaccination even though those rare breeds would run the risk of being completely wiped out if the disease was to strike.