A farmer who shot two dogs which were allegedly “worrying and attacking” his sheep told a court that he was fully justified in what he had done, but said if he had known they were a neighbour’s dogs he would not have shot them.
Before Trim Court was Fiona Scannell, Celtic Park, Ballardan Great, Dunderry, Co Meath, who was charged with being the owner of a dog worrying livestock at Dunderry on 21 January last year.
The charge was dismissed by Judge Cormac Dunne.
Farmer Alan Mulligan said he got a call from his wife on the day in question to say that dogs were chasing and attacking his sheep. He said that she should ring around the neighbours to find out who owned the dogs. He had got his gun and went to the field where he saw two.
I don’t see what relevance it has whether I knew they were her dogs or not – I was entitled to shoot them
One of them was biting at a sheep and pulling the wool from it and another had his sheep up against a fence and was barking at them. He shot the dogs. He did not recognise them and assumed they were strays.
He saw a third dog, a sausage dog, and he knew then that the two other dogs were owned by the Scannells. About an hour later, there was a loud banging on the back door of his house and Paul Scannell was there “shouting bad language at me and threatening to kill me,” he said.
He had gone back inside. His daughter had started crying and had run upstairs. He said he had tried to calm things down, but the abuse continued at his door. He had shown a dead sheep to Mr Scannell.
Mr Mulligan said he had looked up the law on the issue and the Act said that a farmer was entitled to protect his livestock. “I acted totally within my rights.”
Cross-examined by defending barrister Aidan McCarthy, the witness dismissed a suggestion that one of his sheep had “rammed” a party fence between the properties and made a hole in it. He said that “sheep don’t attack fences or anything else, they are easily frightened and run away”.
Within the right
He did not recognise dogs in a photograph handed to him by the barrister.
“I was so concerned with the sheep I didn’t take much notice. I didn’t realise until after I shot the dogs that I recognised they were Fiona Scannell’s dogs. I don’t see what relevance it has whether I knew they were her dogs or not – I was entitled to shoot them.”
“To be fair, if I had known they were Fiona Scannell’s dogs, I wouldn’t have shot them.”
He did not agree with Mr McCarthy that the sheep had caused a hole in the party fence.
“That’s a Homer Simpson version of events that the sheep headbutted the fence, with other sheep egging them on,” Mr Mulligan said.
Duty of care
Judge Dunne said that Mr Mulligan had been “terribly frank” in what he had said. It was very fair and honourable of him to say if he had known the dogs were owned by Ms Scannell he would not have shot them.
It was also a farmer’s duty to ensure that his land was properly fenced.
Similarly, it was also Ms Scannell’s duty to see that she, too, had proper fencing. Mr Mulligan was quite right to do what he did, he said.
However, there was no evidence in court that the offence as charged had been committed, and as a matter of law he must dismiss the charge with the aspiration that after that day these decent people would put this case behind them and get on with their lives.
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A farmer who shot two dogs which were allegedly “worrying and attacking” his sheep told a court that he was fully justified in what he had done, but said if he had known they were a neighbour’s dogs he would not have shot them.
Before Trim Court was Fiona Scannell, Celtic Park, Ballardan Great, Dunderry, Co Meath, who was charged with being the owner of a dog worrying livestock at Dunderry on 21 January last year.
The charge was dismissed by Judge Cormac Dunne.
Farmer Alan Mulligan said he got a call from his wife on the day in question to say that dogs were chasing and attacking his sheep. He said that she should ring around the neighbours to find out who owned the dogs. He had got his gun and went to the field where he saw two.
I don’t see what relevance it has whether I knew they were her dogs or not – I was entitled to shoot them
One of them was biting at a sheep and pulling the wool from it and another had his sheep up against a fence and was barking at them. He shot the dogs. He did not recognise them and assumed they were strays.
He saw a third dog, a sausage dog, and he knew then that the two other dogs were owned by the Scannells. About an hour later, there was a loud banging on the back door of his house and Paul Scannell was there “shouting bad language at me and threatening to kill me,” he said.
He had gone back inside. His daughter had started crying and had run upstairs. He said he had tried to calm things down, but the abuse continued at his door. He had shown a dead sheep to Mr Scannell.
Mr Mulligan said he had looked up the law on the issue and the Act said that a farmer was entitled to protect his livestock. “I acted totally within my rights.”
Cross-examined by defending barrister Aidan McCarthy, the witness dismissed a suggestion that one of his sheep had “rammed” a party fence between the properties and made a hole in it. He said that “sheep don’t attack fences or anything else, they are easily frightened and run away”.
Within the right
He did not recognise dogs in a photograph handed to him by the barrister.
“I was so concerned with the sheep I didn’t take much notice. I didn’t realise until after I shot the dogs that I recognised they were Fiona Scannell’s dogs. I don’t see what relevance it has whether I knew they were her dogs or not – I was entitled to shoot them.”
“To be fair, if I had known they were Fiona Scannell’s dogs, I wouldn’t have shot them.”
He did not agree with Mr McCarthy that the sheep had caused a hole in the party fence.
“That’s a Homer Simpson version of events that the sheep headbutted the fence, with other sheep egging them on,” Mr Mulligan said.
Duty of care
Judge Dunne said that Mr Mulligan had been “terribly frank” in what he had said. It was very fair and honourable of him to say if he had known the dogs were owned by Ms Scannell he would not have shot them.
It was also a farmer’s duty to ensure that his land was properly fenced.
Similarly, it was also Ms Scannell’s duty to see that she, too, had proper fencing. Mr Mulligan was quite right to do what he did, he said.
However, there was no evidence in court that the offence as charged had been committed, and as a matter of law he must dismiss the charge with the aspiration that after that day these decent people would put this case behind them and get on with their lives.
Read more
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