INDEPENDENT TD MICHAEL Healy-Rae has called the shooting of cattle by army marksmen a “disgraceful despicable act”.
Healy-Rae said in the Dáil today:
“I think it’s absolutely an outrageous act for our army to be used to shoot five cattle.”
The people that were involved who ordered the people to pull the trigger they’re a disgrace, not the people who shot the gun but the people who gave the order. Shame on them.
The Kerry TD added ”it’s outrageous, it shouldn’t be tolerated.”
Minister Bruton responded to Healy-Rae saying such a situation is a “last resort” as part of a containment strategy.
On Tuesday members of the Defence Forces shot dead five cows at a farm in Monaghan.
A security detail made up of the Army and gardaí were accompanying a debt collector onto the property.
The animals were shot as they were out of control and had access to a public roadway – posing a potential hazard.
It is understood that the culled animals were suffering from TB.
Commenting on the culling, a spokesperson for the Defence Forces said that its role was to assist gardaí in carrying out their work.
Its statement read:
An official request was received from An Garda Siochána requesting the assistance of the Defence Forces concerning the emergency culling of animals in the Carrickmacross area.
Responding to a query from TheJournal.ie a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture said:
“On Tuesday 5 July 2016 the Defence Forces carried out the humane destruction of five animals on a farm in Co Monaghan due to a significant concern for public safety.
“This operation was carried out at the request of the official assignee responsible for the herd, in conjunction with An Garda Síochána, the Department of Agriculture, Food & Marine and the Defence Forces, in keeping with official protocol.
The carcasses were removed and excluded from the food chain.
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