An early warning system to prevent cruelty to farm animals is to be established by the Department of Agriculture.
Over the last number of winters there have been a number of high-profile cases where animals were allowed to die on farms because of neglect or domestic problems on farms. The Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Walsh, announced yesterday he had accepted the recommendation of the Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Council (FAWAC) on the issue.
This system will involve enhanced collaboration between the Department, the IFA and the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) in identifying and addressing real or potential cases in which the welfare of farm animals is compromised, he said.
Mr Walsh said FAWAC, which he had established in 2002, had recognised the merit of strengthening local arrangements throughout the country, involving farming bodies, local animal welfare organisations and the Department, for identifying and alleviating welfare problems on farms as early as possible.
"The objective is to provide a framework within which problems can be spotted before they become critical or overwhelming. This will in turn facilitate timely, effective and sensitive intervention or the provision of assistance by, as appropriate, public agencies, neighbours and farming bodies and welfare groups," Mr Walsh said.
"The new system will allow for concerned individuals to approach their local IFA representatives, their local SPCA or indeed the Department in the knowledge that the matter will thereafter be dealt with in the most effective, timely and sensitive manner. This can only be to the benefit of the animals themselves and the persons concerned," he added.