Defra must not delay vaccinating cattle any longer, says Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), an animal welfare charity.

The charity applauded the swift handling by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of the foot-and-mouth outbreak so far and welcomed the news that 300,000 doses of vaccine have been ordered.

"We are concerned that any delay in implementing vaccination may risk unnecessary suffering to farm animals and undue disruption to the farming community," said Philip Lynberry, chief executive of CIWF.

The government's own guidelines suggest it should be equipped to start emergency vaccination five days from a confirmed outbreak.

"We urge Defra not to hesitate, to avoid the temptation of putting trade considerations above all else and start the vaccination process as soon as possible to prevent a major disaster for the farming community and farm animal welfare," Lynberry added.

However, CIWF is also concerned that Defra has not made it clear whether its vaccination strategy would be "vaccinate to live", whereby the animals live out their normal economic lives and their meat is then eaten, or "vaccinate to die", whereby animals around an infected farm are vaccinated to reduce the spread of infection and are then killed.

"We urge them to ensure that vaccination to live is followed and we avoid wasteful mass culling. Vaccination to die would simply take away the panic and enable the government to kill animals in its own time.

"However, it is still likely to lead to mass culling and an unnecessary waste of animals' lives."

While opponents of vaccination fear a European Union export trade ban that would be extended from three months to six months, CIWF believes that in reality it is better for the animals, farmers and the rural community to swiftly implement a vaccinate to live policy without further delay.

"We should not forget in this debate that we are dealing with hundreds and thousands of sentient beings, animals that can feel pain and can suffer. We are already experiencing a serious impact on the economy from the outbreak. We question whether three months of extended trade conditions really outweigh the impact of not vaccinating," concluded Lynberry.

Kim Haywood, the director of the National Beef Association, said that vaccination should be considered if the outbreak develops into an epidemic but added: "At this point in time, we all agree that because it has been contained in a local area, that the main priority is eradication without the use of vaccine. Vaccination should be considered as a means of protecting the livestock industry if the disease starts to spread out of control."