A farmer in the Burren in Co. Clare whose cattle herd suffered 63 fatalities over a winter period has escaped a jail term for the animals’ neglect.
At Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Francis Comerford said that he accepted that father of three, Ivan O’Driscoll (48) of Fanore More, Fanore in north Clare became “overwhelmed” by the circumstances he faced.
Judge Comerford said that he accepted that there was “no ill intent” on O’Driscoll’s part or callous view that the animals should be treated in such a way because money could be made.
Clare farmer buys dairy calves
In October 2019, Ivan O’Driscoll had 176 registered cattle on his lands after spending around €80,000, the proceeds of personal injury compensation from a 2014 road traffic accident on new dairy calves.
Barrister for O’Driscoll, Patrick Whyms said that the spend “proved to be the worst thing possible” as O’Driscoll became “overwhelmed” and had no experience in rearing dairy calves.
O’Driscoll had taken over the running of the farm after his brother had died in a farm accident and the O’Driscolls had cared for only suckler cattle before the €80,000 spend on the dairy calves.
Prosecution barrister, Lorcan Connolly said that 63 on-farm cattle deaths were recorded on O’Driscoll’s lands in the winter of 2019/2020 that included 27 carcasses found on his lands on April 1, 2020.
Photos were shown to the court of the carcasses in various stages of decomposition.
Lorcan Connolly stated: “It was a model of farming that this man should not have embarked upon relative to his experience.”
Judge accepts ‘mistake’
In a report read out in court, O’Driscoll’s vet, Joseph O’Loughlin said that Ivan O’Driscoll failed “to dispose of the dead animals in a timely manner and this is unforgivable”.
He said: “The build-up of corpses was extremely unsightly and created a health hazard.”
Judge Comerford said that he accepted that O’Driscoll had made a mistake in purchasing the calves that had the consequence of a large number of cattle suffering.
Judge Comerford said that due to the sheer number of cattle and levels of suffering, a suspended prison term was merited and he imposed a one-year suspended prison term.
The defence barrister said “this is a very sad and tragic story” and Ivan O’Driscoll’s farm enterprise has since downscaled to just 18 animals.
The barrister added that O’Driscoll is on the farm assist payment scheme while the family has also had to rely on St. Vincent de Paul support due to the financial difficulties brought about by the animal deaths and failure to manage the herd.
Neglect
In a report read out to the court, O’Driscoll’s vet, Joseph O’Loughlin said that O’Driscoll had purchased approximately 150 dairy-bred calves in spring 2019.
He said that “deprived of their mother’s milk, they are susceptible to a large range of viral, bacterial and parasitic diseases”.
“Mr. O’Driscoll, I believe, had little experience in the care of such animals and therefore a catastrophe was always a possibility.”
The vet said that things “went horribly wrong” in the autumn of 2019 and the calves were overwhelmed with disease and despite O’Driscoll’s best efforts, “a large number of calves succumbed”.
He added: “Mr. O’Driscoll purchased a large volume of veterinary medicines both parenterally and orally but unfortunately these seemed to have little effect.
“I believe that at this stage, Mr. O’Driscoll was doing his best for the animals but quickly became overwhelmed by the deteriorating situation.
“He took my advice at all times but unfortunately all his efforts proved futile,” the vet added.
He said: “In summary, I believe that Mr. O’Driscoll in purchasing so many young animals in such a short period and from so many different sources created a problem which ultimately overwhelmed him.
“He had no experience in calf rearing and I think any of us would have faced huge difficulty dealing with the problems that faced him when confronted with such a difficult scenario.
“He took my advice in relation to the sick animals and we gave the best treatment I had available.”