EU bans giving bones to dog owners

Butchers are being threatened with fines if they give bones away to dog owners.

They are being sent letters telling them that a new European directive bans the traditional practice.

In future, Britain's 10,000 butchers will have to pay for the bones to be incinerated rather than hand them free to customers for their pets.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs today confirmed the Brussels ban.

It said the bones are now considered "waste" which must be properly disposed of.

A spokesman said: "Customers can take bones away with them when they buy the deboned meat if it is for human consumption.

"But if the bone is waste or for pet food then it's a byproduct - and cannot be passed to the public."

Aberystwyth butcher Aled Morgan, 35, one of the first to receive a warning letter, said: "I just don't see where the EU is coming from. It's just going to cost butchers at least £2,000 a year."

Local dog owner Martin Swanson, 32, said: "It seems to me to be another barmy EU directive."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in