A CHESHIRE farmer is calling for a boycott on the latest craze of releasing Chinese lanterns after one of his pedigree cattle died from eating the wire frame.
Huw Rowlands, 41, of The Grange Farm, Mickle Trafford, lost one of his Red Poll cows worth £1,000 just after bonfire night last year.
He has since picked up more than a dozen remains of the lanterns which attract the ‘curious’ cows who are tempted to eat the bamboo frame hiding the lethal wires.
Huw, whose boycott call is backed by the National Farmers’ Union, said: “They look very pretty but when you release them there is no way of telling where they are going to end up.
“I would like to see them banned completely because they can travel anything up to 20 miles and there is no way of telling where they have come from.”
The deceased cow, called ‘Underhills Sprite’, suffocated over 48 hours after the wire from the lantern ruptured the beast’s oesophagus.
Because it was unclear what had happened at the time, the vet treated the animal for milk fever. As the cow died on the farm she could not be sold for meat. On top of the vet’s bills, Huw had to pay £70 for the beast to be taken away for rendering.
Huw, who has talked about the issue on BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today show, added: “You do get attached to your animals and you do your best to look after them.”
North West NFU spokesman Carl Hudspith said the lanterns were a fire hazard to crops and barns as well a danger to livestock. The NFU has written to Business Secretary Lord Mandelson asking for a complete ban.
There are also concerns from the RSPCA, the Fire Service plus the Coastguard and Mountain Rescue because the lanterns can be confused with distress flares.
