A herd of 25 cattle went over the edge of a cliff at Bluepool, Doonbeg, Co. Clare, leaving many injured and some dead.
Farmer Pat Hayes told Agriland that 17 have since been rescued, but “many of them are badly hurt”. The rest of the cattle sadly passed away.
Hayes said he does not know how the incident happened, “there’s just no explanation”, he said.
He believes it occured some time on Sunday night (July 9), and he then discovered the Charolais and Limousin bullocks the next day during the afternoon.
He contacted dog warden Frankie Coote, who described the fall as “an unfortunate incident”.
Coote helped to spread the word and contact the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
The department has since been in touch and arrived at Hayes’ farm to help.
“It wasn’t anything to do with welfare or anything like that. The farmer is devastated,” Coote said.
Hayes was also in touch with Clare County Council, along with corresponding with his vet to ensure the cattle’s injuries were attended to.
Hayes said that the loss of the dead cattle would cost him about €1,400-1,500/head in expenses.
Cliff incident
In another cliff incident in recent months, a south Kerry farmer lost 70 of his sheep in a dog attack.
The farmer went to inspect his sheep on his land overlooking the sea on Tuesday evening (April 11) and found that 10 ewes had been “torn” by dogs.
He found three ewes and a couple of lambs washed in with the tide. He believes that the dogs forced the sheep into the sea.
The farmer said that it was “an awful scene” which left him very upset.