The Department of Agriculture has launched an investigation after 270 dead calves were found on a Co Galway farm.

The Irish Farmers Journal understands the majority of the calves were dairy breeds and were bought-in to the farm, which is in the northeast of the county.

A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture told the Irish Farmers Journal: “We can confirm that Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) officials are involved in an investigation.

“DAFM does not comment on individual cases.”

Council

In a statement to the Irish Farmers Journal a spokesperson for Galway County Council said: “Galway County Council were made aware of an issue on a farm in north east Galway on the night of 9 April.

“Following that notification Galway County Council carried out a number of site inspections on the 10 April and over the following week to deal with an issue of an environmental concern.

“This issue was resolved on the 20th of April and there is no remaining environmental concern,” the spokesperson said. The spokesperson pointed out that it was the remit of the council to deal with environmental concerns and not animal welfare concerns, which falls to the Department of Agriculture.

Gardaí are not investigating the incident.

Issue

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Connacht IFA chair Pat Murphy would not comment on the specifics of the case, but said there was clearly an animal welfare issue which needed to be sorted.

“The farmer involved needs help too. We need to know why and how this happened,” he said.