The sentence was handed down at a special sitting of Monaghan District Court on Monday 30 January.
Brian Wright (64) of Killygorman, Newbliss, was before the court on 31 charges in alleging he failed to dispose of various animal carcases, failed to have identifying ear tags on certain cattle, and failed to take steps to ensure the welfare of certain cattle and that they were not caused unnecessary suffering or pain, all in breach of the relevant EU regulations and on dates between 28 July 2014 and 12 January 2015.
Evidence was given by a veterinary inspector in relation to visits he made to Mr Wright’s farmyard on 28 July, 2 September, 11 November, 1 and 2 December and 19 December 2014, and 12 January 2015.
The Department of Agriculture witness spoke of insufficient grazing for cattle, no supplementary food, untagged cows and calves, lame animals that were very emaciated and carcases found in the yard.
The inspector spoke of another instance in which seven cattle were in a dirty yard with no feed available to them, and of instances in which animals had not moved away when he approached them because of the pain it would have caused, given their condition.
In one case a 12-month old animal was chronically lame on its left hind leg, while two other confined animals were extremely thin and had scarring. Photographs shown to the court showed some cattle that were obviously in an appalling condition.
Fundamental objections
Witness said he had drawn it to Mr Wright’s attention that there was a fundamental obligation to provide animals with food, water and a dry lying area. Nor could he show that any medicines were given to animals needing treatment.
Mr Wright told Judge Deirdre Gearty that he was not 100% sure how many animals were on his farm. He said it would be “a couple of hundred”.
The defendant, who had represented himself, also told the court that he was living with his elderly mother. He had spent over 30 years farming and never took a day off. He was trying his best.
When asked by the judge if he ever considered reducing his herd numbers to manageable proportions, he said he could see not end to it and that there was “no way out”.
But he agreed with Ms Geri Silke BL, prosecuting, that he could not contest the evidence the veterinary inspector had given. He was not denying that there were problems on his farm.
A brother-in-law of the defendant said Mr Wright had been caring for the cattle, but had difficulties with the Department in completing registration going back 10 years.
He had cattle lifted and Single Farm Payments stopped, but it was accepted that the situation was “out of hand”.
Continuing concerns
Ms Silke, prosecuting, stressed that there were continuing concerns about animal welfare issues on the farm.
The reason there were no registrations for a number of years was that the defendant had not registered the animals himself. It was obvious that he just wasn’t able to deal with the 200-plus cattle that he had, and no animal had been registered since October 2012.
Judge Gearty said it was hugely important that this country’s international reputation in farming standards be maintained.
While Mr Wright had effectively entered a guilty plea, she felt a custodial sentence would not serve any meaningful purpose even though he had a previous conviction.
But she then imposed significant monetary fines in relation to 19 of the 31 counts that were before the court.
Coming to €11,950 altogether, the fines were made up of €5,000 in total for five counts of failing to dispose of bovine carcases, €3,450 in respect of eight counts of failing to have cattle properly tagged, and €3,500 on six separate animal welfare counts of failing to ensure that cattle did not suffer unnecessary pain.
Recognisances for appeal were set in Mr Wright’s own bond of €250.
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Suspended sentence and €8,000 in fines for Monaghan farmer
The sentence was handed down at a special sitting of Monaghan District Court on Monday 30 January.
Brian Wright (64) of Killygorman, Newbliss, was before the court on 31 charges in alleging he failed to dispose of various animal carcases, failed to have identifying ear tags on certain cattle, and failed to take steps to ensure the welfare of certain cattle and that they were not caused unnecessary suffering or pain, all in breach of the relevant EU regulations and on dates between 28 July 2014 and 12 January 2015.
Evidence was given by a veterinary inspector in relation to visits he made to Mr Wright’s farmyard on 28 July, 2 September, 11 November, 1 and 2 December and 19 December 2014, and 12 January 2015.
The Department of Agriculture witness spoke of insufficient grazing for cattle, no supplementary food, untagged cows and calves, lame animals that were very emaciated and carcases found in the yard.
The inspector spoke of another instance in which seven cattle were in a dirty yard with no feed available to them, and of instances in which animals had not moved away when he approached them because of the pain it would have caused, given their condition.
In one case a 12-month old animal was chronically lame on its left hind leg, while two other confined animals were extremely thin and had scarring. Photographs shown to the court showed some cattle that were obviously in an appalling condition.
Fundamental objections
Witness said he had drawn it to Mr Wright’s attention that there was a fundamental obligation to provide animals with food, water and a dry lying area. Nor could he show that any medicines were given to animals needing treatment.
Mr Wright told Judge Deirdre Gearty that he was not 100% sure how many animals were on his farm. He said it would be “a couple of hundred”.
The defendant, who had represented himself, also told the court that he was living with his elderly mother. He had spent over 30 years farming and never took a day off. He was trying his best.
When asked by the judge if he ever considered reducing his herd numbers to manageable proportions, he said he could see not end to it and that there was “no way out”.
But he agreed with Ms Geri Silke BL, prosecuting, that he could not contest the evidence the veterinary inspector had given. He was not denying that there were problems on his farm.
A brother-in-law of the defendant said Mr Wright had been caring for the cattle, but had difficulties with the Department in completing registration going back 10 years.
He had cattle lifted and Single Farm Payments stopped, but it was accepted that the situation was “out of hand”.
Continuing concerns
Ms Silke, prosecuting, stressed that there were continuing concerns about animal welfare issues on the farm.
The reason there were no registrations for a number of years was that the defendant had not registered the animals himself. It was obvious that he just wasn’t able to deal with the 200-plus cattle that he had, and no animal had been registered since October 2012.
Judge Gearty said it was hugely important that this country’s international reputation in farming standards be maintained.
While Mr Wright had effectively entered a guilty plea, she felt a custodial sentence would not serve any meaningful purpose even though he had a previous conviction.
But she then imposed significant monetary fines in relation to 19 of the 31 counts that were before the court.
Coming to €11,950 altogether, the fines were made up of €5,000 in total for five counts of failing to dispose of bovine carcases, €3,450 in respect of eight counts of failing to have cattle properly tagged, and €3,500 on six separate animal welfare counts of failing to ensure that cattle did not suffer unnecessary pain.
Recognisances for appeal were set in Mr Wright’s own bond of €250.
Read more
Suspended sentence and €8,000 in fines for Monaghan farmer
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