Karen Walsh: Animal Health and Welfare Act
Recently, Co Cork pig farmer Rory O’Brien was sentenced to 18 months in prison by Judge Sean Ó Donnabhain in Cork Circuit Court, on animal welfare grounds.
The case attracted much media interest. The farmer, from Killicane, Mitchelstown, pleaded guilty to five charges of animal cruelty.
Judge Ó Donnabhain said he had “never come across the like of this before” in all his years of dealing with distressing animal cruelty cases. He said the severity of the animal welfare and cruelty issues required a custodial sentence, and he jailed O’Brien for 18 months.
The five charges to which Mr O’Brien pleaded guilty to were as follows:
That he failed to take necessary steps to ensure the welfare of pigs in his possession or under his control and that he failed to ensure the animals were not caused unnecessary suffering or injury by failing to treat or euthanise them.
That, at the same place, he failed to comply with a welfare notice in relation to animals in his possession or under his control or care.
That he caused unnecessary suffering to a pig by failing to treat or euthanise it after its flesh was extensively eaten on its ribcage.
That he caused unnecessary suffering to a boar by failing to treat or euthanise it when it had swollen joints and chronic abscesses.
That he caused unnecessary suffering to a pig by failing to treat or euthanise it after it was eaten alive, damaging its left side, leaving a large bleeding wound.
Just the day before, a farmer, PG Shiel, from Reaskmore, Craughwell, Co Galway, with 41 previous convictions for animal welfare offences, was fined €750 at Loughrea District Court after pleading guilty to cruelty, having two lambs found starving in a trailer.
Department of Agriculture veterinary inspector Michael O’Brien said that he found two small lambs in a trailer in a field, and it was obvious that they had not been fed for some time, and there was no water for them and no bedding.
“I ran my hand on their backs, and they were all skin and bone,” he said.
Judge Browne fined him €750 in respect of the cruelty to the lambs, and a further €500 for having an unburied carcass, and issued an order that he get rid of the majority of his herd, and not have more than five animals on his farm at any given time.
Neglect and abandonment are the most common forms of animal abuse in this country.
An animal right basically means that humans do not have the right to use animals for our own gain; not in the laboratory, not on the farm, not in the entertainment world, and not in the wild.
The Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 came in to operation on March 6, 2014.
The Act strengthens the already existing protection for animals in Irish law.
Judges were granted specific powers to prevent persons convicted of cruelty to animals or failing to protect the welfare of animals, from owning or working with animals. The Act also introduced greater clarity on abandonment of animals, including horses.
The new legislation authorises officers including Gardaí, Department of Agricultural representatives and officers from animal welfare groups, such as ISPCA, to investigate complaints of animal cruelty in private homes, and to impose on-the-spot fines.
It was a huge piece of legislation which dramatically changed the approach to animal welfare in Ireland.
The Act makes it an offence for a person to abandon an animal in his or her possession or under his or her control, and a person may be fined, on summary conviction, an amount up to €5,000, and/or imprisoned for up to six months — or a fine of up to €250,000 and/or imprisonment for up to five years on indictment.
If a case of neglect is found on a premises or land on which the animals have been abandoned, the person in occupation of the land is deemed to be a legal guardian of the animals.
The animals are presumed to be owned by the occupier or person in charge of the land or premises on which it is found, unless the contrary is shown.
Consequently, in cases where ownership of horses cannot be established, landowners and tenants are legally responsible for the well-being of animals found in their lands, and can be liable for prosecution in circumstances of neglect.
