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Non-dairy farmers can get behind the international livestock aid agency, Bóthar, with a sale in Tullamore Mart on 10 September. The Bóthar Weanling for Heifer sale aims to raise funds to purchase and rear heifers until they are sent in-calf to Rwanda at 18 months old.
“There’s a huge affiliation and affection in Offaly and beyond for Bóthar,” says Offaly farmer and Bóthar volunteer Pat Mahon.
“Bóthar has sent out goats, pigs even chickens in the past to poverty-stricken families but it is the cow more than anything that can truly change whole families.
“A local cow could produce maybe one litre of milk a day while one of ours could produce 20 times that. That means a family that has suffered the most appalling cruelty and poverty as a result of the genocide can prosper. A cow can mean they can send their children to school.”
Donate
He called on farmers to get involved by donating a weanling (male or female of any breed) for the sale. To do so, contact Pat on 083-4238887 or email patjoemahon@eircom.net.
If you are thinking of purchasing an animal, you can bid for one of the "donated weanlings" or simply give a voluntary donation in the donation box that will be provided in Tullamore Mart on the night.
Bóthar says a similar initiative will take place in Clare later this year, organised by John Fitzgerald.
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