The Irish Creamery and Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) described the footage as ‘disturbing and disappointing’. ICMSA president, Pat McCormack said that animal-welfare laws and regulations must be enforced and sanctions – up to and including prosecution – must follow where broken.
“In the first instance, the blame and culpability for this mistreatment lies absolutely with the individuals involved and those supervisors who may have had knowledge of these cruel practices, but who failed to act. ICMSA expects the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) to now investigate fully, and we know that they will be thorough and fair.”
But, he said that the ICMSA and farmers in general ‘rejected categorically any suggestion that this kind of abuse was widespread or a norm’.
“This is important, and we’d ask both the media and authorities covering this to avoid their usual trick, where rather than dealing with the small number of individuals who are flouting the regulations, we get a whole new layer of regulations loaded onto the 18,000-odd dairy farmers who are already obeying all the rules around calf welfare.”
Bord Bia
In a statement, Bord Bia said it also ‘strongly condemns the mistreatment of livestock, and especially young calves, which is not in keeping with the high standards of animal welfare maintained by the Irish farming sector’.
“Bord Bia fully support all investigations in animal welfare breaches including the immediate DAFM investigation of the livestock marts featured in the RTÉ Investigates programme. High standards of animal welfare, all along the supply chain, are vital to maintaining the positive reputation of Irish agriculture,” it said.
ICOS
ICOS ‘unequivocally condemns instances of cruelty to animals’ and labelled what was depicted in RTÉ Investigates as ‘abhorrent, unacceptable and in contravention of our deeply held values and clearly defined policies on animal welfare’.
“Such occurrences are in no way representative of the required high standards and values that are observed and practiced by our members and by farmers nationwide who are compassionate and caring for their livestock. There must be zero tolerance and absolute condemnation of any mistreatment of animals.”
ICOS said it welcomes an investigation into any incidences of animal cruelty by the DAFM and will fully support such an investigation.
Macra
Macra said that since 2019 it has been calling on the government for supports around the use of sexed semen in the dairy herd to incentivise more viable breeding practices. “In our pre-budget submission for budget 2024 we are calling on the Government, once again, for further action around sexed semen,” said national president, Elaine Houlihan. She welcomed the DAFM’s full investigation into the breaches highlighted around animal welfare by RTÉ Investigates. “We encourage anybody who has witnessed any breach of the law to report it to the relevant authority, in this instance DAFM.
“The dairy industry is extremely important to the Irish economy, and we need to ensure that those who act inappropriately towards animals are punished appropriately. The actions of a few have created a threat to the industry’s reputation, which is unacceptable,” she said.