The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) has called for an independent investigation into the Department of Agriculture's recent enforcement operations in which a large number of cattle were euthanised.
"The footage that has since emerged has left many farmers shocked and looking for answers. The court case will take its own course and [the] ICSA is not going to prejudice that process,” president Seán McNamara said.
“But what is now in the public domain has raised serious questions about how this operation was planned and carried out - and those questions cannot simply be brushed aside.
"Nobody disputes that the Department has the authority to intervene where animal welfare is at risk. Farmers understand that.
"But having those powers also brings a responsibility to use them in a way that stands up to scrutiny and meets the highest standards of animal welfare,” he said.
Animal welfare act
The Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 requires that animals be protected from unnecessary suffering. Those principles apply during enforcement operations just as they do in any other circumstances, the ICSA said.
“Farmers dedicate their lives to caring for their livestock and they expect the same commitment to animal welfare from everyone involved when animals are taken into State control. What people have seen over recent days has seriously shaken confidence,” McNamara said.
He added that farmers want to know who made the decisions, whether the Department's own procedures were followed, whether every reasonable option was considered before the decision was taken to euthanise the animals and whether the operation was carried out the way it should have been.
“If mistakes were made, they need to be admitted and put right. Ignoring those questions helps nobody,” he said.
The ICSA president also said that given the public concern that has arisen, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon “should now say whether he is satisfied that this operation met the standards expected by his Department and whether he believes an independent investigation is now warranted".
Enforcement operations
Department of Agriculture officials euthanised cattle on a farm in Roscommon and one in Clare last week in what it described as “enforcement operations”.
Drone footage from the scene of one of the farms captured what appears to be Department officials culling dairy cows with a captive bolt gun in makeshift pens and in a crush.
The footage, circulating widely on social media, also shows dead animals in a pen with live animals, live animals being killed in the same pen and carcases being winched into a lorry.
SHARING OPTIONS