BY MARK MCKELVEY
THE illegal disposal of young dead animals is becoming an ongoing problem in a secluded forest area near Trillick according to a concerned local resident.
The woman who wishes to remain anonymous discovered a dead calf on Tuesday morning while out walking in this scenic are which she has said has become an "animal dump site".
"This is not the first time this has happened," she declared. "Previously I have seen a number of young lambs and calves dumped inside plastic bags and you can see the heads sticking out of them. This has been going on for a while now, probably increasing since last summer.
"These animals are never removed, they just lay there until they rot or something eats them, you would know when you are walking there is a smell then you would look in and see the animals dumped in a bag, but this time they simply threw it anywhere and now it is tangled up in the barbed wire."
There are strict guidelines set out by the Department of Agriculture outline the correct procedures of how to dispose of dead animals.
Farmers used to be able to bury the animal carcass on their own land but for the past couple of years this has not been the case. It is now the farmers responsibility to have the animal collected by a registered collector to be taken for incineration to kill all bacteria to protect both the animal and public health.
Most farmers have registered with the National Fallen Stock Scheme established in November 2004, but under this system they have to pay for the removal of the animal.
According to the concerned local resident this is probably why there has been an increase in animal carcass disposal in this secluded area.
She said, "This is probably happening as you now have to pay for the removal of animals if they die, so those responsible obviously are trying to save some money. There is no tag on the animal so it has not been registered, so obviously cannot be tracked back to the owner."
The vice Chairman of the Mid Tyrone Ulster Farmers Union Ray Elkin expressed such activity must be condemned.
"Certainly this is something that we would not come across too often and is something farmers in general would not want to be associated with. 99.9% of farmers are trying to stick to the law. Farmers in general and me in particular would want to condemn this activity."
