Three dead lambs have been dumped on a Co Tyrone farmer’s property in the third such incident in the same area.
Neville Ewing, from Eglish, discovered the dead animals last Friday next to a river which is located between two of his fields, having previously had dead lambs discarded in the same area on two separate occasions.
A sheep farmer himself, Neville told Belfast Live that those dumping the animals are doing so out of ‘pure laziness’.
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“It first happened about two months ago, a single lamb was thrown into the river. I couldn’t understand how it got there and thought maybe it had been hit by a car or something,” Neville said.
“It never crossed my mind that somebody had dumped it there but looking back now that’s what has happened.
“The second incident was about two weeks ago where a single baby lamb was thrown in, then this latest incident is three lambs that were thrown in.
“It is just pure laziness, it’s a handy way to get rid of them just to dump them into a field. It’s a quiet road so you could easily just go there at night time and do it.
“Every sheep farmer that has sheep or lambs has ones that die, that just comes with the territory.
“The chances are that this person has more dead lambs than what he is putting into my field, so who knows what this person is doing with the rest of them.”
He added that as the animals were dumped on his land, he was told by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs it was his responsibility to deal with them. Neville disposed of the dead lambs at a nearby factory which cost him a total of £1.80.
“There is a factory four miles away from here and it cost me £1.80 to dispose of them," he said.
“Why could this person not just go and do the right thing instead of dumping them on my property.
“It happened last Friday and I reported it to DAERA on Monday, they sent someone out who sympathised with me but said they can’t really do much about it.
“I was told that they are fed up with it at this stage because it is happening that often.
“Ultimately nobody wants to pay to get rid of the animals or to take any responsibility for them so it just comes back to the landowner where they are dumped.
“It’s bad enough dealing with your own stock that die but to start to deal with somebody else’s is not on.”
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