Gardaí hunt joyriders who rammed cattle herd
Joyriders broke into one of Mr Howlett’s fields in Newtownrathganley, near Kilcock, Co Meath, in the early hours of Saturday morning. They chased the herd, ramming two of them and hitting them so hard that their back legs were shattered in a number of places.
“They were in fierce distress. They were still alive. It was sickening to look at,” said Mr Howlett, 30.
“Their bodies were trembling due to traumatic stress. That’s what the vet said it was. There was nothing he could do. They had to be put down to take them out of their misery. They were probably that way for eight to ten hours.
“The joyriders, although that’s not the name for them, went to the field and basically chased the cattle, isolated them out and rammed them hard. They hit the bullocks from behind as far as we know, broke their legs. They were shattered I don’t know how many times.”
He said one of the bullocks appeared to have been attacked with a knife.
“One animal had lacerations high under his body, under his belly, some of his belly came out. The indication from the vet is that it was consistent with a knife attack, very clean cuts, as if stabbed in and pulled down.”
Mr Howlett, a father-of-two, said he could not explain what had happened to his nine-year-old daughter. “What can you say? It’s hard to comprehend what type of person would do it. It’s barbaric. It’s hard to understand how someone would have so much badness in them.”
He said there were 33 animals in the field at the time. “The others are very distressed. When you come into the field they come running for you.”
He said no one saw or heard the incident.
Mr Howlett, who has been farming full-time for 13 years said he had never heard of such an incident before. “My uncle, who I farm with and who’s 75, has never seen anything like it.”
A garda spokesman said an indicator lens from a car was found at the scene. “We would ask people to look out for a car that has a broken indicator and probably other damage. Also anyone who saw a car driving around that area over the weekend and young fellas acting odd.”
Anyone with information can ring Trim Garda Station on 046-9431598 or the confidential line on 1800 666 111.
