Notified Scrapie Cases

Compensation is paid for all sheep notified to the Department as suspected of having scrapie.

Scrapie has been a notifiable disease since 1992 and, as a result, all suspect cases must be immediately reported to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Veterinary Service.  Compensation is payable for all suspect animals notified to the Department and subsequently slaughtered.  The relevant Northern Ireland legislation is the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010.

The compensation payable for a notified sheep is as follows:

Sheep at the end of its productive life (cull sheep), £30, whether the result is positive or negative.

All other sheep, £90, whether the result is positive or negative.

If the result is negative, enhanced compensation of up to £400 may be paid, provided that the owner can produce evidence to support a higher market value, subject to a maximum payable of £400.

Note: A suspect animal, which has died on-farm before the Department inspection, will be treated as a fallen animal and no compensation will be paid.