Posted on 05/26/2004 12:35:37 PM PDT by ambrose
This is LONDON
26/05/04 - News and city section
EU bans giving bones to dog owners
By Nigel Rosser, Evening Standard
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."
The EU now needs a law to force people to open their eggs at the big end instead of the small end!
If the loonies try that over here, you're safe. You don't have a dog, just rats. ;-)
I don't see why they can't charge the customers instead, just a small fee... a few pence ... to take the bones off their hands.
It's Britspeak. The closest American "translation", flavorwise, would be something along the lines of "nuts", or "loony".
The story I heard was even crazier - a butcher had all of his official scales in kilos, but had an antique one in pounds for decor. It wasn't even legal to have it in the shop according to EU rules.
It does sound crazy, but I recall that a few years ago Britain had put a pause on selling "bone-in" meats in an attempt to contain "mad cow disease", which apparently can be passed through bone marrow or something like that. Might this be related?
DO you think Winston C would have allowed the loss of Great Britain's sovreignty ?
I'm afraid that would be too difficult to enforce. Look, the obvious answer here is simply to ban ownership of dogs. That would solve everything.
I like the way you think.
This is a joke right?
Hmmmmm, a directive. So is this the law or no? If it's the law, what voice did the British have in framing it and how do they go about repealing it? And who exactly is going to enforce this law?
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