The transport of eight Irish horses to Sweden via Britain has upset Swedish farmers, who fear the spread of foot-and-mouth disease. The horses arrived on Monday in a sealed trailer aboard a ferry to Trelleborg, Sweden, according to Mr Mats Denninger, a spokesman for the Federation of Swedish Farmers.
The Swedish Board of Agriculture said that no rules had been broken because horses were not bound by restrictions in place to block the disease. "Foot-and-mouth has not broken out in Ireland. And on top of that, the horses arrived in a sealed vehicle and they never set foot on British soil," said an agriculture board spokeswoman, Ms Anna Olsson.