A judge has appeared in court for failing to provide a BVD sample from animals.
Michael McVerry (49) of Tullyah Road in Belleeks, Newry, was convicted at Newry Magistrates Court on Monday, July 19th, 2021.
BVD sample
Mr McVerry pleaded guilty to one charge of failure to provide a BVD sample from animals. As a result, a judge ordered him to pay £500 plus a £15 offender levy.
The case arose following the monitoring of compliance with the testing requirements of the Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) Eradication Scheme Order (NI) 2016 and subsequent enforcement action against those herds with large numbers of untested animals.
BVD:
BVD (Bovine Viral Diarrhoea) is a highly contagious viral infection of cattle that causes a range of clinical problems.
The DAERA stressed that most infected animals do not survive to a productive age.
Currently, BVD affects over 8% of cattle herds in Northern Ireland.
Since 2016, legislation has supported an industry-led scheme to eradicate BVD from Northern Ireland.
Herd keepers are required to tag and test all newborn calves. The DAERA prohibits the movement of positive animals between herds.
A spokesperson said: “By ignoring his duties as a herd keeper to test for this highly contagious disease, Mr McVerry reduces the productivity and profitability of NI herds and compromises animal welfare.”
Farmer convicted for breaking cattle tagging laws
Meanwhile, yesterday, a farmer appeared in court for numerous animal movement and identification-related offences.
Patrick McVerry, Tullyah Road, Belleeks, Newry, appeared before Newry Magistrates Court on Monday, July 19th, 2021.
The judge ordered him to pay £2,750, plus a £15 offender levy.
He pleaded guilty to:
- One charge of using an ear tag to identify an animal that had already been used to identify another animal;
- 24 charges of failure to notify the movement of animals onto his holding or the birth of said animals;
- 21 charges of failure to notify the movement of animals off his holding;
- 9 charges of providing false information to the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.
The case arose following a cattle identification inspection carried out by Officers from DAERA Welfare and Enforcement Branch.
 of Tullyah Road in Belleeks, Newry, was convicted at court for failing to provide a BVD sample for animals.){kind=link}