First vet struck off register for professional misconduct

Cork vet Cornelius Linehan has become the first vet to be struck off by the Veterinary Council of Ireland (VCI) for professional misconduct.

Linehan was found guilty of allowing his official stamp be used to certify unfit cattle as fit for export to Morocco in 2011.

The VCI said that they had taken the matter “very seriously” and that Linehan’s name had been struck off their register, by the High Court president, Mr Justice Peter Kelly, on 9 July this year.

“All decisions the veterinary council makes in regard to striking someone off the register have to be confirmed by the High Court,” a spokesperson for the VCI told the Irish Farmers Journal.

In 2011, Moroccan authorities made a complaint to the Department of Agriculture regarding animals imported from Ireland with private veterinary practitioner (PVP) certificates.

Some 12 animals had IBR, while 20 had died and another four were slaughtered under emergency slaughter guidelines.

A subsequent inquiry by the Department found that the exporter David Hunter of Murphy Hunter International Livestock Ltd (MHIL), was guilty of making gain by deception. Hunter was fined €100,000 and sentenced to four and a half years in prison.

A fitness to practice inquiry also found that the vet Cornelius Linehan had been involved in supplying MHIL with PVP certificates using his official stamp for one or more animals that were ineligible for transport.