The cull of 51 cattle on a farm near Fivemiletown, Co Tyrone, was lawful, a review has concluded.
The operation was conducted by Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in June after a farmer had been convicted of multiple animal welfare offences.
Following a public and political backlash over the cull, former Irish chief vet Dr Martin Blake was appointed to undertake an external review of the events.
In his final report, which was published on Tuesday, Blake describes the method of depopulating the farm as “lawful” and “appropriate”.
The review states that DAERA staff allowed the herd keeper a period of three weeks to sell the livestock on the farm.
“From an animal welfare and veterinary science standpoint, the choice of in-situ culling of livestock at pasture using free bullets was an appropriate method.
“This avoided the additional fear, panic, and distress that forced yard-gathering and transport would have inflicted upon cattle unaccustomed to such handling,” the report reads.
However, the review finds numerous shortcomings in the operation.
Blake highlights that “insufficient consideration” was given during the planning phase to “human and community impact”.
A key issue was the overnight delay in removing cattle carcases from open fields across the farm.
There were also shortcomings in communications, decision-making, operational oversight, record-keeping and risk assessment processes.
Blake has provided a list of recommendations for DAERA, which Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir has accepted.
“The report’s ten recommendations are accepted in full with regular reporting and independent oversight put in place to ensure improvements are driven and sustained at pace,” Minister Muir said.
Read full analysis of Martin Blake’s report in this week’s Irish Farmers Journal.
