Farmer’scase struckout afterISPCA donation

A farmer who admitted allowing a sheep carcass remain unburied in a trailer had the charge struck out after he came up with € 300 for the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Before the court was Hugh Gilmartin of Mullinfad, Ballintrillick who admitted the charge at a previous sitting with the case being adjourned to allow him come up with the money.

The offence was committed at Gleniff on April 25th 2016.

When the case was called Inspector Paul Kilcoyne said he wished to call a witness to address the court. She hadn’t given evidence on the previous occasion but wanted to address the court.

Rosemary McGovern said issues of dead sheep in the area had been ongoing for some time. She said the trailer in question contained a number of dead sheep and was left close to a forest in an abandoned state.

She wondered if anyone knew how many sheep were in the trailer and it appeared to her that there had been at least 20. She had taken pictures and had made a report to the Gardaí.

Witness said the trailer was about 7km from where the defendant’s shed was. He had stated that the sheep were in the trailer for only two days.

Witness wanted to also know how the sheep died.

Judge Kevin Kilrane said the defendant had pleaded guilty at the previous sitting and gave an explanation that the sheep had suffocated and that he was on his way to a knackery.

The sheep had died some time earlier and he believed he was bringing them in a timely manner to the knackery.

The Judge pointed out that the defendant didn’t have any previous convictions, had pleaded guilty, had stated they suffocated and on the day he was stopped he stated he was on his way to the knackery.

The Judge said he also took into account that the defendant was a farmer of some years and there had been no allegation of cruelty made.

Inspector Kilcoyne said a veterinary inspector did attend at the scene on April 26th and noted that the animals were in an advanced state of decomposition and were likely to be more than four days dead.

Judge Kilrane said the witness wasn’t convinced the sheep had died in the manner described, that they had suffocated and it was appalling that they lay dead in the same outhouse as live ones.

She also believed that the defendant had no intention of going to the knackery and her hunch was that he was going to dump them in the forest.

The Judge said he wasn’t saying that the witness was wrong and she may well be right in relation to this.

Judge Kilrane thanked the witness for her attendance . He said there was a lot of suspicion swirling around the defendant but that’s what it was, suspicion.

He added that everyone must remain vigilant in relation to these type of offences in scenic areas.