Far away from the oceans where sea animals all too often perish because of plastic and other waste, the problem remains the same for animals based on land: cows unwittingly ingest plastic or other waste and consequently suffer from infections, tumours, and other diseases. For this reason, the French NGO dubbed the afflicted bovines "trash-cows."
In France, no less than 60,000 cows are affected by the "waste disease."
The NGO Recycling Network Benelux also estimates that approximately 4,000 cows have already died in the Netherlands because of the accumulation of waste in their rumens.
Our colleagues at RTL 5minutes hoped to find out if the same problem afflicts Luxembourg and contacted the Ministry of Agriculture. The ministry's response detailed that there had been similar cases in the Grand Duchy but maintained that they were "isolated and sporadic." Given the very small number of reported cases, the issue is currently not a top priority.
Even though veterinarians are able to remove ingested metal by using a magnet, this treatment is not preventative, the Chamber of Agriculture explained. In other words, cattle are not prevented from ingesting metal or plastic waste.
