Slapmarks now required by Scotch Premier, Aberdeenshire

[Stonehead]

Today, when I booked three pigs in for slaughter next week with Scotch Premier in Inverurie I was told they would now have to be slapmarked on both shoulders.

I said I used metal tags, which along with slap marks and ear tattooes, are approved by both DEFRA and SEERAD.

I was told the tags would not be acceptable on their own and that I'd need to slap mark my pigs.

When I told the person I spoke to that slap marks are not legible on dark skinned pigs, I was told pigs don't have dark skins - they have light skins.

Sigh! It's quite clearly not just the person on the other end of the phone that doesn't know about pigs. Someone higher up must have made the decision while being oblivious to the fact that some pigs (the non-commercial ones!) do not have light skins.

So, I now have to go and buy a slap marking kit for around £50, knowing that the tattoos it leaves won't be legible on dark skinned pigs, while also using expensive metal tags as approved by SEERAD so that the pigs do have legible markings.

Talk about daft.

[camillitech]

the world has gone mad!

[the.fee.fairy]

What's a slap mark?
How does it differ from tattoos?