Mass farmer demo as NI minister defends emergency cattle cull

Northern Ireland agriculture minister Andrew Muir has issued a robust defence of his department’s actions in relation to the destruction of 51 cattle on a farm at Fivemiletown in County Tyrone.

The incident, which happened at the end of June, has triggered widespread condemnation in Northern Ireland, with Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) staff accused of overseeing a “barbaric” slaughter of healthy cattle.

See also: Northern Irish dismay at ‘barbaric’ slaughter of 51 cows

However, addressing the Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Stormont on Monday (10 August), Mr Muir insisted the decision to cull the animals on site was the “only viable option”.

He explained that the farmer who owned the animals had a history of animal neglect dating back to 2022, which had culminated in a court order banning him from keeping animals, and a deprivation order to remove stock from his farm.

But, despite being given three weeks to comply, the farmer only arranged for the sale and rehoming of a handful of animals, leaving Daera with no legal option but to dispose of the rest.

Mr Muir explained that normally this would be done by gathering the cattle and moving them to a contained site.

But this had not been possible, given that the animals were spread over three remote sites, were “semi-feral”, and that there were inadequate handling facilities on the farm.

The veterinary advice was therefore to deploy a team of marksmen to shoot the cattle in their own environment as the most welfare-friendly option.

Vets’ views

Mr Muir was accompanied in the evidence session by deputy chief veterinary officer Gemma Daly and senior principal veterinary officer Elsie McGarvey.

Ms Daly explained every effort had been made to get the farmer to sell the cattle, but once it became clear this was not going to happen, the terms of the court order specified their destruction should be “immediate”.

Ms McGarvey suggested that trying to round up the animals – many of which were in poor condition – would have amounted to “compromising their welfare for public perception”, while jeopardising staff safety.

A few members of the public had observed the culling, but Ms McGarvey said it was not the case that the cattle had been running around while being shot at.

The operation had been carried out by highly trained professionals, she said, and every effort was made to shield the incident from public view.

Distress caused

Mr Muir said he fully understood the distress the situation had caused, describing the animal welfare abuse that had led to the incident as “vile”.

He was therefore launching an independent external review and would be appointing a chairman and publishing full terms of reference by the end of the week.

The intention was that the review should be swift, but thorough, with the findings likely to be published in early October.

Mr Muir also condemned some of the social media commentary that had occurred since the incident, describing the “misogynistic, sectarian and homophobic” comments that had been directed at him and his staff as “despicable”. He had even received a specific death threat.

Farmers stage protest outside Stormont © NI FFA

Farmer action

The comments did little to appease members of lobby group Farmers For Action (FFA), which had organised a large demonstration in front of the Stormont building ahead of the evidence session.

Several speakers expressed their outrage that seemingly healthy cattle had been disposed ofat Fivemiletown.

FFA co-ordinator William Taylor said Mr Muir had “overrun his tenure” and praised a sign saying “Dicky bow must go” – a reference to Mr Muir’s fondness for bow ties.

Mr Taylor said the number of good healthy cattle that they killed “with ample grazing and water” represented the loss of perhaps 5,000 meals at a time when food security is a priority.

Sean McAuley of FFA also called for Mr Muir, the permanent secretary Katrina Godfrey and the veterinary officer in the department’s enforcement branch “who oversaw the wanton destruction of livestock at Fivemiletown” to stand down. 

He said another inquiry would be a waste of taxpayers money, accusing Daera of “double standards”.

“We are inspected to the backdoor of our farmhouses yet the department can do whatever they like,” he said.

The Ulster Farmers Union (UFU), which in an unprecedented move, was invited to attend the committee meeting, said confidence in Daera had been “shaken to its core”.

“Farmers must have confidence that enforcement decisions are proportionate, transparent and carried out professionally,” said UFU president John McLenaghan. “Right now, that confidence isn’t there.”