A dairy farmer in Co. Tipperary has highlighted the distress caused to his calves by fireworks and bangers set off next to them for Halloween over the weekend.
The fireworks were set off on Saturday night (October 31), with casings found beside a hedge adjacent to 20 calves the following morning.
Speaking to AgriLand today (Monday, November 2), the Tipperary farmer said: “I moved the calves this morning into another sheltered paddock and I found a few more bangers thrown around the field; I probably just didn’t pick them all up yesterday.
“There were 20 calves at the other side of the ditch of where these were found; there is only an old hedge in between, where all the bangers were thrown in against, which was on the other side of the calves,” the farmer explained.
I was lucky that I had the place well fenced. Other than that, they would have been out onto a public road. And then, who is responsible? Whose fault then is it [according to the law] only my own?
“I don’t mind anyone using bangers; you see them on TV, that’s fine – but would people just have a small bit of cop on? Make sure that you’re well away from livestock or any small animal, even a dog.
“The calves are January and February-born calves; they wouldn’t be used to that kind of thing at all.”
This isn’t the first occasion such behaviour has been an issued for the farmer, as he explained:
“Last year, there’s a woodlands up beside me and they were letting bangers off in the middle of forestry; you can imagine, on a nice calm night, one or two of those bangers went off – there was savage noise out of them.
“I had in-calf heifers up beside the wood so I was caught last year as well. When they let off the banger I had to go up that night at 11:30pm to make sure the heifers were alright. When they saw me then I stayed with them for a while until things calm down.
There is some bang off them, nearly like a gunshot. The shock of them and the fright wouldn’t be good for animals.
“The calves were only in a small field beside it; they couldn’t run far away. The calves are OK now. I had to wait until this morning to move them because I had to dig up rubbish after the fireworks. I had to walk around it just to make sure there was no more plastic thrown around.
“The wind might have blown that plastic into the calves’ field. You’d be afraid the calves might choke if they ate enough of it. It’s an absolute joke.
“It’s the parents I blame. I don’t know what to say to it. I just thought people might have a small bit of cop on that this might upset people’s animals. It doesn’t matter where it’s a cow, calf or dog. It’s up to the parents to tell the kids – where are the kids getting these fireworks?
I was told lately to keep an eye on the calves in case they’d develop pneumonia – I don’t know whether that would happen or not but hopefully they’ll be housed shortly and I’ll be able to monitor them then.
“I gave them plenty of ration this morning and moved them to a new field so they should be alright,” the farmer concluded.