Fivemiletown: Questions asked as to why cull farm allowed to disintegrate to be 'grotesque with 33 animal carcasses and bones'

"I suppose the question is how did it reach that point?,” said the Sinn Fein MLA.

Katrina Godfrey answered : “That’s a really good question” and “it's one we're asking ourselves in the review of our enforcement policy”.

"We want to get everybody back into compliance.

"So how do we get people compliant quicker? And basically, if that's not going to happen, how do we step off that path onto the next path quicker, onto the farm law enforcement.”

"Everybody endeavours to do their best and work with the herd keeper to get them back into compliance.

"When you do consider the animal welfare, which is underpinning this whole thing, sometimes our processes don't really align themselves the best with getting that addressed”.

“And all these situations are to support the herd keeper to sell the animals – and it's not our intention to take the ultimate action of disposal ourselves in a deprivation order."

Brian Dooher said: “In this case, there's a number of reasons why we went down this way.

"One of them was the handling facilities which weren't fit for purpose on this premises”.

He added that TB testing on the farm was not completed as it “took a number of attempts to gather the animals”.

"I think it's illustrated well enough through the document (report), that the nature of the land”, plus “animals not used to being handled and were easily agitated” need to be brought into “consideration, before any decisions were made on the option selected”.

He added that approximately 40% of the animals were “ineligible” for the food chain due to “traceability issues”.

Both acknowledged a failure in planning for carcass removal which caused distress to the local community.

Earlier Chair of the AERA committee, Diana Armstrong asked Chief Veterinary Officer and Permanent Secretary Katrina Godfrey how much ammunition was discharged over the two days of the cattle cull in Fivemiletown.

Alluding to a question from UUP leader Jon Burrows in the Assembly where he was told by the Agriculture Minister he could not disclose the amount of ammunition, she said: “The department has declined to say citing security, and really, we don't follow that as nobody is asking where the firearms are stored or who holds them”.

"It's asking how many rounds were used in a lawful operation that is now subject of a published independent review?

"Does the department know how much ammunition was used? Because if the answer is that it doesn't, that is not a disclosure issue, it is an ammunition control issue, and that is a serious matter for any organisation holding firearms,” she added.

"So, can either of you confirm that all ammunition issued for that operation is actually accounted for?"

Responding Ms Godfrey said: “I think the minister answered that very clearly in the chamber.

"Dr Blake found that all firearms licensing and implementation requirements in law were fully met, and the minister's position is that we are not providing any further information on the ammunition fired or the weapons that were used.

"And I only have, as you know, chair, the position of my minister.

"He has articulated that in the chamber, and that remains along with what Dr Blake has confirmed our position, and that rests with the minister.”

AERA Vice-chairman Declan McAleer said it was understood that “the situation on the farm was grotesque, and there was 33 animal carcasses and bones that were lying about the place” at one point.

" I suppose the question being, how did it reach that point?

Katrina Godfrey answered : “That’s a really good question” and “it's one we're asking ourselves in the review of our enforcement policy”.

Brian Dooher said: “ So do we try too hard to bring people into compliance, and actually don't move quickly enough. Whether it's in pollution, whether it's in odors, whether it's in animal cruelty, not move quick enough actually to stop the thing that's giving us concern”.

"We want to get everybody back into compliance. That's our objective: is try to get people compliant. So how do we get people compliant quicker? And basically, if that's not going to happen, how do we step off that path onto the next path quicker, onto the farm law enforcement.”

"Everybody endeavors to do their best and work with the herd keeper to get them back into compliance.

"And but at the end, though, when you do consider the animal welfare, which is underpinning this whole thing, and sometimes our processes don't really align themselves the best with getting that addressed”.

And all these situations is to support the hair keeper to sell the animals and divest themselves of them himself, and it's not our intention to go down to take the ultimate action of disposal ourselves in a deprivation order.

" In this case, there's a number of reasons why we went down this way. One of them was the handling facilities which weren't fit for purpose on this premises.

, and the reviewer does reference the fact that the TB test it took a number of attempts to gather the animals, and also it wasn't completed. It was incomplete at the end up.

of. I think it's illustrated well enough through the document, also the nature of the land and the animals too that weren't weren't being used to be handled and were easily agitated, so these things are all we're all taking into consideration, as the reviewer touched on before any decisions were made on the option selected.