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With summer now underway many cattle farmers will be weaning last year’s calf drop. For a number of white faced cattle breeders this will also be a time of the awareness of the odd cow that will be affected by the onset of eye cancer (squamous cell carcinoma). This raises the question of what can be done for the animal? Experience has revealed that the prognosis for cattle so affected is not good and typically where animals are treated by a veterinarian there will be a number of those animals who endure recurrence of the condition within the treated eye, such is the nature of the malignancy. This generally leaves the producer with very little in the way of treatment options. Various Department of Primary Industry “Ag Notes” describe that it is illegal to submit any animal with an eye cancer lesion greater than two centimeters in size for sale at any Victorian saleyard. It is further stated that the recommended method of disposal of animals with small eye cancers (less than two centimeters) is direct to an abattoir. All animals presenting for slaughter at an export abattoir are subject to an ante-mortem inspection by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) veterinarian assigned to the abattoir. This examination is independent of the abattoir management and is not influenced in any way by the operator. In the past three years importing countries have increased their animal welfare demands upon the meat processing industry to a point where the AQIS veterinarian now places as much emphasis upon this element as the food safety component. Where the veterinarian believes that an animal has been unreasonably exposed to cruelty it becomes their professional obligation to report the matter and provide evidence to the Department of Primary Industries. With the increased awareness of animal welfare issues at an abattoir it is no longer a facility to send eye cancer affected cattle that cannot be sent to a saleyard. Producers need to be aware that only those cattle that fit the criteria as indicated in the photos can be submitted to an abattoir.