The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) has written to the chair of the Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Council looking for a meeting to address what it described as “unacceptable” scenes captured on video which showed cows being euthanised on a farm in Roscommon.
The Department of Agriculture carried out two enforcement operations on farms in Roscommon and Clare the week before last.
IFA animal health chair David Hall and an IFA delegation met with senior Department officials with responsibility for animal welfare and investigations about Department protocols to deal with alleged welfare and animal traceability breaches on farms.
The meeting came as a result of a request from the IFA following the appearance last week of a number of videos showing dairy cows being destroyed on two farms.
Hall said it was very apparent from this meeting that the Department does not have any clear guidance for its officials on the ground.
The IFA said it is also of concern that “they do not appear to be provided with the equipment and resources needed to carry out these functions in a professional and competent manner”.
“The Department officials listened to the points we raised and we expect them to revert with a formal response this week,” Hall said.
Hall said the IFA did not discuss the details of any individual case in this meeting. The farm body said the issue is the protocols the Department has in place to deal with cases where animals have to be removed from farms.
“We all understand there may be times when animals have to be euthanised by the State, but there must be strict protocols around this and these must be developed as a matter of urgency. We can never have a repeat of what we have seen circulating last week,” Hall said.
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