Society Spring Show & Sale cancelled - statement

Statement issued to members on Thursday 26 March...

With much genuine regret we have cancelled the Society's Spring Show & Sale at Worcester on 16 May.  At the beginning of this week the sale was going ahead, albeit with possible restrictions, but events have moved on very quickly and after the prime minister's announcement on Monday evening professional bodies have issued guidance to their members.  On Tuesday morning the British Veterinary Association asked vets to restrict visits to emergencies only, so asking your vet to do a pre-movement TB test or blood tests will now probably meet with refusal, putting both you and your vet in a difficult position.  Then on Tuesday afternoon the Livestock Auctioneers Association issued guidance to all markets that whilst primestock, cull and store animals can still be traded, breeding cattle CANNOT during the period of the ‘lockdown'.  As the lockdown is scheduled to last three weeks, but may continue much longer, it's not fair on you as members to be constantly speculating about what to do. 

Additionally as a Society we have a duty of care to you as a Society member and the country as a whole to minimise unnecessary contact. We must all do our utmost to act responsibly and try to get COVID-19 under control as quickly as possible through our own individual, as well as collective actions.

The Society's website and social media outlets are available to all members to advertise their pedigree animals and stores for sale; in order to support members at this time we are suspending advertising fees so adverts across all platforms are free of charge until pedigree markets are restored.  If you are selling cattle directly off your farm we encourage you to follow government guidance and take all necessary precautions. We would also advise members who are in TB areas that need to pre-movement or post-movement test to check with your vet practice before selling or buying cattle to ensure they can be moved off your holding, or post movement tested after arrival.

We are also looking at the possibility of an online auction, if this is feasible we will provide more details as soon as we can.

Thank you for your patience and understanding, it's a strange world we are all living in at the moment.

Stay safe and well