A farmer in Northern Ireland has been convicted in court in relation to failure to adhere to rules regarding a bovine tuberculosis (TB) notice.
Donal McGreevy (25), Moor Road, Ballyward, Castlewellan, was convicted at Downpatrick Court on four charges of failure to comply with a tuberculosis notice, requiring him to detain all animals on his holding.
McGreevy was not present in court, but his solicitor stated his client wanted to enter a guilty plea.
The case was dealt with in the farmer’s absence, and he was fined £600 plus a £15 offender levy.
Court over TB notice
The case arose following a Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) investigation into breaches of a tuberculosis restriction, which prohibited the movement of cattle from McGreevy’s holding.
McGreevy illegally moved 41 cattle between August 21, 2023 and September 12, 2023.
As a result, he was convicted on four charges of being a person on whom a notice was served requiring him to detain all animals on his holding (save for move to slaughter animals not individually subject to restriction notice or under movement authorisation), failed to comply with the notice in contravention of Article 9(1) of the Tuberculosis Control Order (Northern Ireland) 1999, contrary to Article 52(1)(a) of the Diseases of Animals (Northern Ireland) Order 1981.
The Tuberculosis Control Order 1999 as amended states: “If a person refuses to permit or otherwise delays or impedes the examination, sampling or testing of any animal, or refuses or neglects to comply with any requirement imposed upon him in connection with such examination, sampling or testing, under this Order or the Scheme, the Department may, by notice – (a) require that person to detain any animal on the holding on which it is kept, or on such part of the holding as may be specified in the notice; (b) prohibit the movement of any animal to or from the holding except under and in accordance with the conditions of a licence issued by the department.”
In addition Article 4 states: “Where the department knows or suspects that an animal, a herd or a carcase is diseased, it shall serve on the keeper thereof a notice informing him of the fact”
DAERA said that McGreevy breached the conditions of notices by moving animals from his herd while under restriction.
The department added that the majority of herd keepers fully comply with the requirements of the TB eradication scheme.
Current disease levels continue to remain high at a considerable cost to the public purse and to individual herd keepers., according to DAERA.
“It is vital all stakeholders work together to reduce the disease prevalence, and that infected animals are identified, isolated and removed at the earliest opportunity to minimise risk to other stock in the infected herd and in neighbouring herds,” a spokesperson for DAERA has stated.
