Leitrim tops list for fodder crisis helpline calls
Since the beginning of emergency fodder support at the end of April, 127 out of the 960 calls received came from Co Leitrim. This represents 3.45%, or more than one in 30, of the county’s 3,673 farmers.
Two bordering counties, Sligo and Cavan, were the only other counties where calls to the animal welfare helpline represented more than 1% of farmers. There were 83 calls from Sligo, representing 1.9% of the county’s 4,395 farmers.
There were 56 calls from Cavan, representing 1.06% of the county’s 5,282 farmers.
Calls from other counties totalled 24 from Longford (0.92% of farmers); 41 from Meath (0.9%); 67 from Tipperary (0.86%); 52 from Roscommon (0.82%); 63 from Kerry (0.75%); 40 from Limerick (0.66%); 40 from Clare (0.6%); 74 from Galway (0.55%); 19 from Westmeath (0.5%); 60 from Mayo (0.5%); 15 from Laois (0.45%); 10 from Kildare (0.4%); 15 from Kilkenny (0.4%); 19 from Monaghan (0.41%); 13 from Offaly (0.37%); three from Dublin (0.37%); 41 from Cork (0.29%); 27 from Donegal (0.29%); eight from Waterford (0.28%); 11 from Wexford (0.24%); four from Louth (0.23%); two from Carlow (0.11%); and four from Wicklow (0.1%).
Where calls were made to the animal welfare helpline, and animal welfare problems or potential animal welfare problems were identified on the callers’ farms, assistance was sanctioned for purchase of emergency feeding stuffs.
No supplementary payments were made to farmers.
Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney said the Department will continue to utilise the resources available under the FAWAC’s Early Warning/Intervention System (EWS), which provides a framework for the IFA, the ISPCA and his department’s veterinary inspectors to work together in identifying and addressing farm animal welfare issues before they became critical.
Farmers and or family members can get in contact by email at fawac@agriculture.gov.ie or through their local IFA or ISPCA representatives.
