Andrew Muir said there was no reasonable alternative to euthanising 51 cattle on site after the cull in Fivemiletown drew protests, abuse and a death threat. He told an emergency meeting of Stormont's agriculture committee that the decision followed a distressing sequence of events.
He said the photos and videos that emerged after the cull were deeply upsetting, and he described the abuse aimed at him and officials in his department as a disgrace. Daera said it was carrying out a court order after the cattle owner's conviction on animal welfare grounds.
Stormont on Monday
Hundreds of farmers protested at Stormont on Monday before Andrew Muir and Daera officials appeared before the committee. The dispute centred on the end-of-June cull in County Tyrone, where 51 cattle were killed on site.
Andrew Keys, who witnessed the cull in Fivemiletown, said he heard gunshots coming from a nearby field while he was working on his own farm. He said it was not something that anybody should ever witness or see.
Andrew Keys in Fivemiletown
Keys said he believed there was nothing wrong with the cattle, health or behaviour wise, and said they should have been allowed to go to a different farm. He said three calves ran away, that some were not found until nearly a week later, and that one of the calves had a serious injury.
He also claimed one calf had been shot in the neck. He said the incident was totally against what farmers work towards and said it could never happen again.
Andrew Muir and Daera
Muir said officials in his department had been threatened and said they had faced misogynistic, sectarian and homophobic abuse. He said the abuse was despicable and deeply concerning, blaming inaccurate reporting and commentary after details of the cull became public.
The central question left by the case is the one Muir did not resolve: what specific factors led officials to conclude that moving the cattle to another farm was not a reasonable alternative?
