A farmer who failed to separate 91 Bovine TB infected cattle from the rest of his herd has been fined £515.
The case comes just over a week after Edwin Poots green lit a badger cull in Northern Ireland over “high levels” of the disease.
Philip Thomas Gordon, 26, from Clay Road in Keady, Co Armagh was sentenced at Armagh Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
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The Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs took the case after an inspection at his farm and say “the majority of herd keepers fully comply with the requirements of the bovine eradication scheme”.
A DAERA spokesperson said on Monday: “Mr Philip Thomas Gordon was sentenced at Armagh Magistrates’ Court today, 4 April 2022 of one charge of failure to comply with a notice to isolate tuberculosis reactors.
“Mr Gordon was fined £500 plus £15 offender levy.
“The case arose following a cattle identification inspection carried out by officers from DAERA Welfare and Enforcement Branch. A total of 91 animals that had previously tested positive for tuberculosis were not isolated to prevent further spread of the disease.
“The actions of this herd owner and his failure to isolate TB-positive animals clearly undermine the efforts of the farming community and the Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs, to ensure a healthy national disease controlled herd and safe beef to sell on the home market and abroad.”
Over 75,000 cattle have been slaughtered in Northern Ireland since 2016 as a result of bovine Tb according to DAERA.
Some had tested positive while others had simply been in contact with infected cows or bulls.
Farmers were paid £1,562.56 in 2020-21 for each bovine slaughtered as a result of the disease.
That sum has risen steadily since 2016-17 when the average compensation for each animal killed as a result of TB was £1,251.18.
Cattle can be sold for anything from a few hundred pounds to thousands for pedigree or dairy cows.
Alliance MLA John Blair said: "It provides some reassurance that DAERA is pursuing such checks and follow up as required. It is essential, especially in the context of the proposed controversial cull of badgers to prevent bTB, that the department acts proactively to protect cattle as well as wildlife more widely."
Read more: Badger group warns farmers of "growing anger" over bovine TB mass cull proposals
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