By Gearoid Keegan
Nearly €16,000 was awarded to a Co. Galway farmer today, Thursday, May 9, when a court decided he had been sold an infertile Limousin bull.
Judge Karen Fergus said that on the balance of probability the pedigree Limousin, Finboy Gino, was not fit for purpose when Co. Offaly bull breeder Tom Harney sold him to Mountbellew suckler farmer Micheal Ryan nearly six years ago.
Tullamore Circuit Civil Court heard last week that Ryan bought the bull from Harney, a Moneygall-based farmer, breeder and schoolteacher, on June 6, 2013, after seeing an advertisement on DoneDeal.
When he had the herd scanned the following November none of the cows were in calf and a fertility tester, John McCabe, took semen samples on January 11, 2014, and concluded the bull was unsuitable for breeding.
Ryan’s vet, Tom Glynn, gave evidence that, while he had not examined the animal, a bull’s fertility should return even if it was lost for a period of time because of an infection, a high temperature or an injury.
The court also heard the bull had been put on the market by Harney at a Limousin sale in Roscrea Mart in May 2013 but was withdrawn when it did not reach its €3,000 reserve.
It had been examined by Harney’s vet, Eamon O’Connell, at the mart, but its fertility was not tested because a test wasn’t mandatory.
O’Connell again examined the bull at Ryan’s farm on March 8, 2014, and a fertility test on that occasion showed his semen to be satisfactory, a finding which surprised McCabe.
In a report dated September 2, 2016, O’Connell said Finboy Gino would not be able to mate with cows because an injured and inflamed prepuce would prevent him from exteriorising his penis.
Judge Fergus noted that the bull had been sent for slaughter on February 1, 2016, and said when McCabe and Glynn were shown photos of the animal’s penis they did not agree with O’Connell that Finboy Gino had an injury.
The judge said she was satisfied there was a problem with the bull from the time he arrived on the plaintiff’s farm and the fact that he had previously put a cow in calf was not proof he was fertile at the time of sale.
She said Ryan’s evidence was that the bull was working normally and mounting cows from the outset but none of them became pregnant during 2013.
She said she preferred the evidence of Ryan’s experts and found that Harney sold a bull which was not fit for purpose and was, on the balance of probability, infertile.
She also awarded costs to Ryan and refused a request to put a stay on the order in the event of an appeal.