A FARMER has spoken out about his concerns after dead sheep are left to rot on farms across Gwynedd for weeks at a time. W D Williams, of Aberdaron, has slammed the recent introduction of an EU directive on fallen stock which means dead animals can no longer be buried and that contractors must collect the carcasses. Mr Williams said that he and many of his farming friends have expressed grave concerns over leaving carcasses to rot on farms and the risks that might pose. He himself had to wait a week and a half for dead animals to be removed from his farm and he claimed that in one case, a farmer had to wait five weeks. Mr Williams said: "The situation is despicable. The carcasses are not being collected and after a week there is a very strong smell. You can understand why some locals would complain about the smell. Why have they allowed this scheme to go ahead when it is not ready? "They should let us bury these animals until the scheme can cope. "You have children playing in the fields and that can't be good. I can't understand it. It is depressing having to see the dead sheep in the fields - before you could bury them, but now you can't." Gwynedd Watkin, FUW Caernarfon county executive officer, claimed the system was not working in rural areas and said the farming community was pressing for an exemption from the directive. He said: "The situation is hopeless. We said that the scheme would be impossible to implement, particularly during the lambing season. Some farmers have waited weeks for collection. | 
