I bought a bunch of calves in early February from a dealer. Some had been sourced in the mart and others had been gathered from farmers.
Part of the conditions of sale were that he vaccinated them, would replace any calf that died and that he would dehorn them for me when they were settled on my farm. They are a very sick bunch of calves. One died very early on, a second one more recently and I will probably lose a third. My issue is when I contacted him re: replacing the first one, he said no problem, he would call on a certain day with a calf and dehorn others when there.
This went on for weeks and he just would not turn up on agreed days or not contact me. I have dehorned them at my own cost. I have a large vet bill and minus two calves. I never asked him to replace the second calf as it was a number of weeks after I bought them. He says he vaccinated them, but I have no proof of it and my vet claims that they would not have been so sick had they been vaccinated. All I want is the cost of dehorning plus one calf replaced.
I have never had an issue before and just trusted the wrong person. I just wonder do I have any legal rights or should I just suffer the loss of it and not make the same mistake again?
Animals bought privately
Most private sales are agreed orally between the buyer and the seller and it is each person’s word against the other in the event of a dispute. To protect yourself in the future, you should record what is agreed in writing, even roughly on a single sheet of paper at the time of sale and have you both sign that sheet of paper recording the terms of the agreement.
It would be useful to have your signatures witnessed by an independent (ie not related to either of you) adult witness in case either person claims that they did not sign it.
If the seller induced you into buying the calves by stating that they had been vaccinated etc, it may be regarded as a warranty given at the time of sale.
In the absence of any verifiable proof that the calves had been vaccinated, the seller who gave this warranty should be held liable for loss and damage arising from the fact that the calves were not vaccinated, if that proves to be the case.
Recourse to the courts
Disputes such as these should be resolved between the parties, whereby the seller should compensate you for not abiding by his side of the agreement.
However, if he refuses to compensate you or you cannot reach agreement as to the level of compensation payable or indeed if he ignores you, it is open to you to bring proceedings in the district court for breach of contract if the claim is for less than €15,000.
If the claim is for €2,000 or less, which you opine it is likely to be, it may be possible to pursue a claim through the small claims procedure.
Small claims court
The aim of the small claims procedure is to provide an inexpensive, fast and easy way for consumers and businesses to resolve disputes without the need to employ a solicitor. The district court clerk, called the small claims registrar, processes small claims. The procedure can be summarised as follows:-
The claimant completes an application form (which can be done online at www.csol.ie/ccms/welcome.html) and pays the relevant fee;The application is registered by the registrar;A copy of the claim and a notice of claim is sent by the registrar to the respondent.At this stage, the respondent has a number of options as follows:
Admit the claim – The respondent would complete a notice of acceptance of liability and return it to the registrar. Thereafter, the respondent either pays immediately, consents to judgement, in which case he must comply with the judgement within 28 calendar days, or pay the amount claimed in instalments.
Dispute the claim – The respondent has 15 calendar days to reply and return to the registrar the notice of dispute, a copy of which is sent to the claimant. The registrar tries to settle the dispute, but if no settlement can be reached, the matter is then set down for court hearing;
Counterclaim – The respondent claims that he has a claim against the applicant, in which case a copy of the notice of dispute and counterclaim is sent to the claimant;
Ignore it – If there is no reply by the respondent within 15 calendar days of notice of the claim, he is held to have admitted the claim. The procedure is the same as if he had consented to judgement. The registrar will notify the respondent of the judgement and the respondent has 28 days to comply with the judgement.
The most usual way of enforcing a judgement is to give the decree to the sheriff or county registrar for execution. Further information in relation to the procedure is available from www.courts.ie.
In summary, it might be worth pursuing the claim through the small claims procedure. Thereafter, it would be advisable to write out the terms of any future agreements which you can rely on in the event of a dispute and also to ensure that any stock purchased in the future are purchased from a reputable agent.
I bought a bunch of calves in early February from a dealer. Some had been sourced in the mart and others had been gathered from farmers.
Part of the conditions of sale were that he vaccinated them, would replace any calf that died and that he would dehorn them for me when they were settled on my farm. They are a very sick bunch of calves. One died very early on, a second one more recently and I will probably lose a third. My issue is when I contacted him re: replacing the first one, he said no problem, he would call on a certain day with a calf and dehorn others when there.
This went on for weeks and he just would not turn up on agreed days or not contact me. I have dehorned them at my own cost. I have a large vet bill and minus two calves. I never asked him to replace the second calf as it was a number of weeks after I bought them. He says he vaccinated them, but I have no proof of it and my vet claims that they would not have been so sick had they been vaccinated. All I want is the cost of dehorning plus one calf replaced.
I have never had an issue before and just trusted the wrong person. I just wonder do I have any legal rights or should I just suffer the loss of it and not make the same mistake again?
Animals bought privately
Most private sales are agreed orally between the buyer and the seller and it is each person’s word against the other in the event of a dispute. To protect yourself in the future, you should record what is agreed in writing, even roughly on a single sheet of paper at the time of sale and have you both sign that sheet of paper recording the terms of the agreement.
It would be useful to have your signatures witnessed by an independent (ie not related to either of you) adult witness in case either person claims that they did not sign it.
If the seller induced you into buying the calves by stating that they had been vaccinated etc, it may be regarded as a warranty given at the time of sale.
In the absence of any verifiable proof that the calves had been vaccinated, the seller who gave this warranty should be held liable for loss and damage arising from the fact that the calves were not vaccinated, if that proves to be the case.
Recourse to the courts
Disputes such as these should be resolved between the parties, whereby the seller should compensate you for not abiding by his side of the agreement.
However, if he refuses to compensate you or you cannot reach agreement as to the level of compensation payable or indeed if he ignores you, it is open to you to bring proceedings in the district court for breach of contract if the claim is for less than €15,000.
If the claim is for €2,000 or less, which you opine it is likely to be, it may be possible to pursue a claim through the small claims procedure.
Small claims court
The aim of the small claims procedure is to provide an inexpensive, fast and easy way for consumers and businesses to resolve disputes without the need to employ a solicitor. The district court clerk, called the small claims registrar, processes small claims. The procedure can be summarised as follows:-
The claimant completes an application form (which can be done online at www.csol.ie/ccms/welcome.html) and pays the relevant fee;The application is registered by the registrar;A copy of the claim and a notice of claim is sent by the registrar to the respondent.At this stage, the respondent has a number of options as follows:
Admit the claim – The respondent would complete a notice of acceptance of liability and return it to the registrar. Thereafter, the respondent either pays immediately, consents to judgement, in which case he must comply with the judgement within 28 calendar days, or pay the amount claimed in instalments.
Dispute the claim – The respondent has 15 calendar days to reply and return to the registrar the notice of dispute, a copy of which is sent to the claimant. The registrar tries to settle the dispute, but if no settlement can be reached, the matter is then set down for court hearing;
Counterclaim – The respondent claims that he has a claim against the applicant, in which case a copy of the notice of dispute and counterclaim is sent to the claimant;
Ignore it – If there is no reply by the respondent within 15 calendar days of notice of the claim, he is held to have admitted the claim. The procedure is the same as if he had consented to judgement. The registrar will notify the respondent of the judgement and the respondent has 28 days to comply with the judgement.
The most usual way of enforcing a judgement is to give the decree to the sheriff or county registrar for execution. Further information in relation to the procedure is available from www.courts.ie.
In summary, it might be worth pursuing the claim through the small claims procedure. Thereafter, it would be advisable to write out the terms of any future agreements which you can rely on in the event of a dispute and also to ensure that any stock purchased in the future are purchased from a reputable agent.
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