{"id":612144,"date":"2026-07-30T18:48:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T18:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/612144\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T18:48:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T18:48:22","slug":"government-ordered-mass-shooting-of-cattle-in-co-tyrone-as-public-gathered-to-watch-prompts-review-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/612144\/","title":{"rendered":"Government-ordered mass shooting of cattle in Co Tyrone as public gathered to watch prompts review \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Government officials have promised a review after around 50 cattle were shot dead in a \u201cdisturbing\u201d hours-long mass slaughter in open fields on a farm in Co Tyrone as members of the public gathered to look on.<\/p>\n

The government-ordered operation, carried out over 12 hours across several fields in the Clogher Valley area, came on the heels of a court order confiscating the animals from an owner convicted of animal welfare offences.<\/p>\n

Concerns have been raised over the public culling of the cattle on the farm near Fivemiletown, with one local representative describing what was witnessed as \u201cdisturbing\u201d and questioning whether it could have been carried out in a more humane, and less public, way.<\/p>\n

Following the cull, officials will carry out a review \u201cto identify any improvements for future operations\u201d, DAERA said in a statement. <\/p>\n

\"Paramilitary<\/a>\"Government-ordered<\/a>\"CattleCattle were culled after owner was convicted of animal welfare offences. PICTURE DAERA <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like a Wild West scene \u2014 there were cars blocking the roads, there were people standing on ditches watching the marksmen shoot the animals dead in the field,\u201d said local Councillor Eugene McConnell following the mass shooting, part of which he witnessed.<\/p>\n

Councillor McConnell added: \u201cThe shooting started at 10:00 in the morning and the last animal was shot at 9:50 that evening.\u201d <\/p>\n

The operation followed a recent deprivation order handed down by a court, which allowed for the confiscation of the cattle after the owner was convicted of offences linked to the welfare of animals.<\/p>\n

Animals can be destroyed if a veterinary surgeon is persuaded it is in the interests of the animal, including to prevent unnecessary suffering and to avoid abandonment.<\/p>\n

One eyewitness, who said he worked for the agriculture department for many years, said the cattle were shot on one day over 12 hours. \u201cIt was the most disgusting thing I ever witnessed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn operation was conducted by DAERA on 29th June 2026, at a farm near Fivemiletown, Co. Tyrone, to execute a court deprivation order on a herd belonging to a disqualified keeper, in respect of animal welfare offences,\u201d a DAERA spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe operation was planned in advance and the methodology selected was considered the most appropriate in the circumstances, taking account of animal welfare, staff and public safety, and the views of relevant operational teams, including engagement with PSNI.\u201d <\/p>\n

The spokesperson added: \u201cAs with any large and sensitive operation, officials responded dynamically to issues arising on the day and will complete a lessons learned review to identify any improvements for future operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr McConnell revealed details of the mass shooting at a recent meeting of the full Mid Ulster District Council. He called for steps to be taken \u201cto ensure that there is no repeat\u201d of the \u201crecent harrowing incident\u201d where the cattle were shot dead in full view of members of the public.<\/p>\n

The councillor described the animals as \u201cbig, healthy, full-grown\u201d cows.<\/p>\n

\"Cow'sLocal councillor reported calves being shot during the cull. File pic <\/p>\n

But he added there were also \u201cfour young calves that broke loose and made a run for freedom, and they were accompanied by the bull, and the bull got into a nearby forest\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe marksmen went after it and shot the four calves and the bull,\u201d the Clogher Valley Sinn F\u00e9in representative said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy problem with all of this is that surely there must be a more humane, or better, type of situation than the disturbing scenes for the people living locally \u2014 and the phone calls that I was getting until I got on site.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like a Wild West scene. It genuinely was something. And I know councillors get everything landed on their doorstep, but the amount of abuse and upset, with people witnessing that, seeing healthy animals shot dead in a field.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just feel, going forward, that as a Council there must be some responsibility, in conjunction or engagement with our counterparts or those in official capacity in DAERA.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has to be a better way to deal with this \u2014 round up the animals, collect the animals, take them off site, or do something. They were all shot and lying over three or four different fields.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Government officials have promised a review after around 50 cattle were shot dead in a \u201cdisturbing\u201d hours-long mass…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":612145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,19440,1682,13,14,258339,6,11,12,15,16,5,14244,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":["post-612144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-cattle","tag-co-tyrone","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-fivemiletown","tag-headlines","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-shooting","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-world","tag-world-news","tag-worldnews"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117010426682684719","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}